Agnes Kanjala

The livestock production industry in Malawi is booming. It experienced a growth of 16% in 2019 and was valued over $1billion. This growing industry has presented a lucrative opportunity for smallholder farmers to diversify from crop production and earn more income to uplift their households. The Farm partners with grassroots smallholder farmers by providing farmers with a livestock production bundle that comprises financing in the form of high-quality agricultural inputs, training on livestock production and farm management, veterinary services and a guaranteed competitive price market for all the livestock produce. The farmers raise all the livestock on their farms using underutilized resources that already exist on their farms. At the end of the cycle, the farmers pay back The Farm for the inputs using a share of the revenue from sales. The target customers for The Farm are smallholder farmers who have limited access to high quality agricultural inputs, modern techniques to farming and markets access. The Farm is built around the triple bottom line creating a balance between creating social impact, generating profits and protecting the environment. The livestock production offering enables smallholder farmers to increase their income per cycle by 20%- 80%, become more entrepreneurial and better equipped to solve economic issues in their household and community while generating business profits and protecting the environment.