Vulnerable livelihoods in the Shire Highlands of Malawi
A case study taken from Oxfam's 2005 Programme Impact Report
Over the past four years, the Shire Highlands Sustainable Livelihoods Programme has reached out to more than a quarter of a million people living in 233 villages in the Districts of Mulanje, Thyolo, and Phalombe. District government agencies, a number of NGOs, and community-based organisations are Oxfam’s main partners in the implementation of the programme.
Women and men have changed the way they farm and, importantly, have become active citizens in the development of their area. Communities are taking responsibility for ensuring that vulnerable households are included in developments.
Farmers who have adopted low-cost, environment-friendly, agricultural techniques have seen production of maize, the staple food, increase by more than 200 per cent (from 500 kg to 1,600 kg per hectare) over a period of several years. Production levels do however vary from year to year, depending on the rains. There are 37,000 households — 40 per cent of which are headed by a woman — now using these technologies.
"Three and a half thousand vulnerable households, including those headed by children and those where someone is chronically ill, have acquired chickens, guinea fowl, or goats through revolving loan schemes."
Initiatives have been taken to provide people with a good source of protein in their diet, as well as a new source of income.
Farmers have been supported to establish fishponds. One thousand two hundred farmers now have fishponds in Thyolo District, 800 of them supported by the programme.
Three and a half thousand vulnerable households, including those headed by children and those where someone is chronically ill, have acquired chickens, guinea fowl, or goats through revolving loan schemes. Research has shown that people who have livestock are significantly less vulnerable to ill health, and cope better through times of food shortage.
Women are earning money from owning livestock and from other activities, and are able to decide how to use the cash. Illiterate women are learning to read and write, and this is helping them gain respect from their communities, and take on new positions of responsibility. The skills that they are gaining are critical as they engage increasingly in petty trade.
Almost 12,000 households affected by HIV are receiving support from local volunteers under a Home-based Care scheme, run by the Social Welfare Department and 27 community-based organisations.
Through Oxfam’s collaboration with Médecins sans Frontières, people can also be referred for counselling and treatment at health centres and clinics. Both children and adults are benefiting.
Some children have been able to go back to school, and some chronically ill women and men have been able to work in their fields, do light work at home, or start activities to raise income.
Health centres report that the incidence of water-borne diseases has dropped now that 35,000 households have greater access to potable water. Bore holes have been drilled or rehabilitated, shallow wells have been protected, and a gravity-piped water system has been built.
"In 2004–05, the budget for the Shire Highlands programme was about £1m. It reached more than a quarter of a million people."
The programme starts in each village with the community assessing its problems and possible solutions, and drawing up an action plan. A Village Development Committee (VDC) is chosen, consisting of equal numbers of women and men members. Two of its members are elected to represent the interests of households that might be marginalised and left out of programme interventions.
A key part of the programme is the development of people’s knowledge, skills, and capacities: for example, introducing new farming techniques; teaching women to read and write; raising awareness about hygiene and disease, HIV, gender inequalities, and violence against women.
In 2004-05, the budget for the Shire Highlands programme was about £1m (excluding the WFP food contribution). It reached more than a quarter of a million people through the activities described. Advocacy work has benefited other sections of the community too: for instance, approximately 80,000 employees on tea plantations in Mulanje and Thyolo can now join unions. The strategies adopted, and partnerships formed, all aim to contribute to the programme’s cost-effectiveness and build relationships and structures that will allow the communities to continue their development.
