Knowledge for farmers in Malawi - Acades

In 2013, a group of five agricultural students at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, decided to start a farm together after graduating. Without it being their specific intention, their company evolved into ACADES Agribusiness Youth Development Association. They bring together young farmers, 45 percent of whom are women, in small business clubs, where they provide them with knowledge and loans. Their return on investment is fivefold.

One of the founders, Hastings Nhlane, comes from a farming family. He was the first of his family who was able to study, but he was initially disappointed to be selected for agricultural university.

‘I really wanted to study technology. My mother is a farmer, and she always told me: “If you don’t work hard at school, you’ll become a farmer.” Becoming a farmer is the last thing young people in Malawi want. It’s really only a last resort. I had never met a farmer who owned a car or a nice house. Nothing motivated me to become a farmer. My uncle was a primary school teacher. He was the only man I knew who owned a car. So I wanted to be a teacher too.’

Commercial approach

In the course of his studies at agricultural university, Hastings discovered that most farmers in Malawi didn’t have the right mindset to be able to think commercially. ‘All the farmers in the village I’m from only grow crops for their own consumption.’ His academic studies were a real eye-opener: ‘I discovered there are farmers who operate large agricultural businesses. They drive tractors, employ staff and make a sizable turnover. This changed my entire perception of the agrarian sector. I understood that as a farmer, you can make a lot of money if you employ the proper commercial approach.’

At age 21, after graduating, he returned to his parents to become a farmer himself. ‘My parents were perplexed, angry even. Was this what they sent me to university for?’

Ultimately, Hastings left his village. Together with his former university buddy Madalitso and three others, he rented a piece of land where they started growing onions and soy beans. The problem was, however, that they had to wait a long time between harvests. They weren’t able to supply their customers all year round. Which is why they reached out to thirty other local farmers to organise and collaborate.’

Hastings: ‘When the first farmer earned 250 dollars, that was major news. It was unprecedented. Word spread like wildfire and within six months, 170 farmers had joined us. By the end of the first year there were 500. We analysed the obstacles these smallholders faced to operating successful businesses. They lacked the knowledge and skills needed to grow the most commercial crops, and they needed investment capital to purchase seed.’

Young farmers

They decided to focus on helping young farmers. In Malawi, 75 percent of the population is under the age of 35. There are no major industries, but there is a lot of farming land. By learning how to operate a successful farm and with the aid of start-up capital, thousands of young people would be able to turn their lives around. At that time, it was an extremely novel idea that this might be a solution for the country’s high youth unemployment rate.

Through a high-ranking civil servant at the National Youth Council of Malawi, they liaised with an aid organisation who showed them how to set up an organisation, how to plan strategically and how to manage data. These initial years were educational but tough. Three members of their team dropped out, leaving just Hastings and Madalitso. Madalitso: ‘Everyone told us we were crazy. Our parents felt we were wasting our talents. We had little income and sometimes hardly anything to eat.’

The turning point came when a sponsor donated 40,000 dollars to them. They began training young farmers and supplying them with small loans. In 2019 they were awarded a prestigious prize. The president of Malawi came to visit them and all their critics fell silent.

Nowadays they manage a sixty-strong workforce. ACADES is now a key stakeholder in Malawi’s agricultural sector. They are advisors to the government and participate in the national planning committee. Their agrarian network collective was held up at a conference in Nairobi as rural Africa’s most successful development model for youth employment.

ACADES

Where? Malawi, where the majority of the population is young and lives in rural poverty.
What? ACADES supports young people with agricultural advice, business guidance, materials, and loans.
Why? Youth unemployment in Malawi is extremely high, with 81% living below the poverty line. Although agriculture has huge potential, young people often lack the resources, training, and funding to succeed.
Results? Since its launch, ACADES has reached over 61,000 farmers, positively impacting nearly 184,000 people. In just one year, farmers saw 149% income growth and a 75% increase in production. Average household income rose
from €30- to €750. The cost per impacted life is €68, with a €5 return for every euro invested. The model has earned national recognition—including Malawi’s Presidential Zikomo Award—and was featured in a FAO report as a leading example for youth employment in Africa.

Website: https://acadesmw.com/