Malawi

Increasing Mitigation, Productivity and Adaptation through Crop-Recovery Techniques (IMPACT) II Project

In the 2015 / 2016 season, Malawi experienced severe floods and droughts that occurred as a result of El Nino weather conditions. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) -composed of the Government, UN agencies and NGOs- forecasted that a minimum of 6.5 million people, or 39 percent of the country's projected population of 16.8 million, would not be able to meet their annual food requirements during the 2016/2017 consumption period. Nsanje, Phalombe and Mulanje are some of the districts that were hit hardest.

CARE Malawi implemented the IMPACT project from August 2016 through July 2017 to help the people from the three districts recover. After closure, USAID’s OFDA extended IMPACT for an additional one year (August 2017-July 2018) with a humanitarian funding of US$1,125,519 to consolidate the gains achieved in the first phase and reach additional households affected by continued dry spells and the Fall Armyworm. CARE subcontracted ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), an international NGO with experience and presence on the ground, to implement activities of the second phase in Phalombe and Mulanje (as they had in Phase I).

This evaluation aimed to assess the design, performance and impact of the second phase. Read More...

Food and Nutrition Security Programme (FNSP) in Malawi (2015 – 2022): Midline Evaluation

Over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and two billion do not meet their micro nutrient requirements (Global Nutrition Report, 2016). While the global starving population has gone down in recent decades, the number of people suffering from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa today is higher than ever. Malnutrition is particularly prevalent in developing countries, where it has an impact not only upon the development prospects of an entire country, but also of each individual affected. If a child does not receive sufficient nutrients up to its second year, i.e. over its first 1,000 days beginning with the early embryonic phase, the impact on growth, mental faculties and therefore learning and work¬ing potential will endure a lifetime.

This midline survey outlines important information to understand whether the project is on track. The overall objective was improving the nutrition situation of women of reproductive age (15-49) and children under two (6-23 months) in Dedza and Salima. This report outlines how well the project is meeting this goal. Read More...

Food and Nutrition Security, Enhanced Resilience: Nutrition Baseline Survey Malawi

Over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and two billion do not meet their micro nutrient requirements (Global Nutrition Report, 2016). While the global starving population has gone down in recent decades, the number of people suffering from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa today is higher than ever. Malnutrition is particularly prevalent in developing countries, where it has an impact not only upon the development prospects of an entire country, but also of each individual affected. If a child does not receive sufficient nutrients up to its second year, i.e. over its first 1,000 days beginning with the early embryonic phase, the impact on growth, mental faculties and therefore learning and work¬ing potential will endure a lifetime.

The German Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) launched an Initiative “On World – No Hunger” to improve food and nutrition security (https://www.bmz.de/webapps/hunger/index.html#/de). Within this initiative GIZ implements the program “Food and nutrition security, enhanced resilience” in 11 countries in Africa and Asia.

The project‘s main target group includes women of childbearing age, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and infants. The project‘s objective is to improve the nutritional situation of approximately 880000 women, 235000 young children and 4.000 households. Structural measures to combat hunger and malnutrition, particularly among mothers and young children, are one of the most effective ways of investing in the future of a society. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

Cash and Voucher Assistance that Works for Women: 6 Lessons from the Field

A brief summary from a multi-country study on "what does gender-sensitive cash and voucher assistance look like?".

The study adopted a user-centric approach to data collection. This ensured consistent reflection with crisis-affected people throughout the process and increased our ability to capture complexity and enhance accountability. Read More...

What Does Gender-Sensitive Cash and Voucher Assistance Look Like?

CARE is committed to being “cash ready” to achieve breakthroughs for women and girls in its cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and to convene other stakeholders on the gendered aspects of CVA. Building that commitment, CARE commissioned a study on gender-sensitive CVA from its own project participants. The study aimed at understanding the:
- Extent to which women, men, boys, and girls have been involved in the design of CVA and the implications of this involvement.
- Potential for CVA to foster positive and sustainable gender roles and relations that contribute to gender equity.
- Gender-related barriers and risks associated with collecting and receiving CVA including social and cultural
attitudes and protection risks. Read More...

Pathways Project End of Project Evaluation Report

Pathways aimed to increase productivity and income in equitable agriculture systems. CARE innovated an effective Theory of Change to address real issues affecting rural women farmers by providing them with capacities in agriculture; access to inputs, extension services and markets; empowerment to influence decisions; and an enabling environment for growth.

Pathways has met and, in most cases, surpassed targets set in its M&E framework. In the words of women themselves the project has worked very well, focusing on groundnuts and soybean as high-value cash crop substitutes for tobacco because of their high potential for markets, ability to replenish the lost soil fertility and strong nutritional value. It has grown from working with 9,000 to 14,282 farmers (hosting a population of 71,410 people), organising them into 1,528 groups. Women provide leadership to most of the groups after being transformed to become successful wives, farmers and entrepreneurs who can make independent decisions and speak in public.

In 2015 alone, collective sale revenues from groundnuts and soy amounted to MK128, 601,938 (US$233,821.7) and rose to MK854, 356,267 (US$751,511) by the end of 2017. Contract farming organized by the project contributed US$34,233 to these revenues. In 2014, the project conducted 188 community-wide gender dialogue sessions and reached out to 9,654 people, 7193 female and 2464 male, helping them to internalize and address gender inequalities. Men have generally started looking at women as partners in agriculture and development that is cementing marriage bonds and creating an enabling environment for women to succeed. Along with this, CARE Malawi linked women farmers to key players in the groundnut and soy value chains to help them excel.

As a consequence, by December 2016 a total of 246 farmer groups had accounts with OIBM and other banks through which they saved MK49, 175,577 and 6 VSLs accessed two group loans worth MK4,800,000 (US$7,804.88) which they invested in agriculture, business and VSL activities. VSLs profited and shared out US$871,178 in the year, with more benefits seen in 2017 when savings accumulated to US$3,756,435 e.g. earnings of MK47, 489.32 to MK204, 769.33 per household on average. In turn, per capita household monthly incomes and expenditures doubled by the time the project closed in December 2018. Although agricultural productivity continued to decline over the project life due to poor weather conditions, Pathways farmers remained food secure and continued to eat at least two meals a day. Household dietary diversity (HDDS) and women intra-household food access (AHA) data from this evaluation found levels of consumption to be acceptable and typical of food secure households. These results showcase that Pathways beneficiaries have grown their incomes, assets and food availability in the face of the changing climate and are better off even in difficult years. Read More...

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