Until 2020, Chipiliro Makunganya, a resident of Magombo Village in Chiradzulu District, relied on her husband for financial support. As a housewife, she was stuck in poverty, unable to contribute to her household's income. However, her life took a turn for the better when she was enrolled in the Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP), a government safety net program under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP). The program, funded by the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Trust Fund, aimed to empower the poor and vulnerable.
Through the CS-EPWP, Makunganya and other poor households in Traditional Authority Likoswe were engaged in erecting water and land management technologies to conserve the environment, enhance resilience to climate change, and increase food production. The participants built water harvesting structures such as eyebrow basins, deep trenches, stone bunds, and swales on their crop fields and open spaces. For their work, each participating household received monthly wages of K48,000. This initiative not only provided them with a steady income but also equipped them with skills to manage their finances and improve their livelihoods.
The program introduced Makunganya and other participants to Comsip Cooperative Limited, which provided them with financial literacy and business management skills. About 19 participants, including Makunganya, formed Kachere Comsip Cluster, where they saved part of their earnings and received soft loans to start businesses. Makunganya used a K200,000 loan from the cluster to open a grocery shop at Nguludi Turn-Off Trading Centre in the district. With expertise from Comsip, she grew her shop and was able to support her husband with buying fertilisers and paying fees for their children.
In 2024, Comsip provided the Kachere Comsip Cluster with a K600,000 revolving fund to boost their businesses after the Cyclone Freddy disaster. This development enabled Makunganya to increase her capital from K240,000 to K5.4 million. With a fully stocked grocery and a food-secure household, Makunganya says she has triumphed over poverty courtesy of the program. She plans to sustain her status by diversifying her sources of income by selling farm produce.
The success of the CS-EPWP participants was acknowledged by Chiradzulu District Comsip coordinator, Catherine Kawerenga. She expressed pleasure with the economic strides the participants have registered, noting that their lives have improved for the better. Once they join Comsip clusters, they are exposed to multiple grants to curb poverty, such as graduation packages, value addition training, and youth skills challenge with start-up tools.
Chiradzulu District project facilitator Emmanuel Daka highlighted the environmental benefits of the initiative, stating that it has restored 12,000 hectares of degraded land in the district. With 17,000 participants conserving the environment in 15 catchments, the water and land management technologies have enhanced their resilience and improved people's welfare. The participants have established committees and forest protection bylaws to sustain the interventions that have brought blessings to their families.
The Kachere Comsip Cluster has made significant progress, with a total of K7.2 million that the members will share as dividends by the end of November. This achievement demonstrates the impact of the program in empowering the poor and vulnerable in Malawi's Chiradzulu District. The program has not only improved their livelihoods but also equipped them with skills to manage their finances and become economically active.
Key points
- The Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works Programme has empowered poor households in Malawi's Chiradzulu District to become economically active and improve their livelihoods.
- The program has restored 12,000 hectares of degraded land in the district and enhanced resilience to climate change.
- The initiative has equipped participants with financial literacy and business management skills, enabling them to start and grow their businesses.
