Malawian VSLA Agent Finds Solution to Food Insecurity in Rumphi Village
Agent of VSLAs in Malawi creates solution to food insecurity with grain savings bank, writes Susan Moyo.
Malawi-Justine Nyirenda, an agent of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) from Group Village Sitima Kankhoka area under Traditional Authority Chikulamayembe in Rumphi district, Malawi, has found a solution to the problem of food insecurity in his village, especially during the lean period from December to March, writes Susan Moyo.
According to Nyirenda, people in his area have been travelling long distances to buy maize from Hewe ADMARC, which was sometimes not available, forcing them to go to Rumphi Boma to buy just one tin of maize. To address this issue, Nyirenda borrowed the methodology of saving money through VSLAs and created a grain savings bank.
“Each household saves at least four buckets of 20 litres of maize every month from September to November to a grain savings club, and the maize is kept under lock until December. By-laws were formulated which never allow any member of the saving grain club to get maize until December,” Nyirenda explained.
Since the creation of the grain savings bank, the initiative has helped to control the careless sale of maize. Francina Mfune, a member of the Kankhoka grain saving bank, said that since she joined the savings group, her life has changed.
“Since we started saving our maize in grain banks, we have enough food to eat, and our children’s performance in school has greatly improved,” she said.
Norah Gondwe, another member of the Kankhoka Grain Bank Savings, concurs with Mfune, saying that life was tough before the grain bank initiative.
“During the lean period, instead of working on our farms, parents together with our children were busy looking for piece work to find our daily food. Now our lives have changed; we encourage our children to go to school, and our bodies too are healthy because we are no longer malnourished,” said Gondwe.
Chancy Donald Kachale, the Village Development Committee chairperson for Kankhoka area under Mwazisi Area Development Committee, praised the initiative, saying it has helped to put a stop to the careless selling of food at the household level.
“Maize storage was a problem as men and women were competing to sell their maize to satisfy short-term needs. The husband would sell maize to buy beer, while the wife would sell to buy a piece of cloth. But the grain bank initiative has saved the situation,” he said.
Group Village Headman Sitima from Traditional Authority Chikulamayembe confirmed that food insecurity is now history in his village as they now have enough food.