A farmer passes on goats to the next beneficiary farmer in Neno District, Malawi

Bertha Sumani from Malawi’s southern district of Chikwawa was a woman without hope. The mother of three needed money to pay school fees and provide food for her family, and being a widow only exacerbated her plight. 

“I told my children to stop going to school as I could not afford the fees. Luckily, two of them understood the [financial] situation, but the third child, who really enjoyed learning, was bitterly disappointed to drop out,” said Sumani. 

But luckily, help was at hand.   

Pass it on 

A charitable non-governmental organisation, Stephanos Foundation, which is very active in Malawi, visited Chikwawa in 2017, where it promised to support families that have school-going children but lack financial support. 

They did this by introducing a pass-on programme in the area, which entails a family being given, as an example, three goats. When the goats breed, the family will give the same number, in this case three of the goats, to another local beneficiary family and keep the remainder as their own possessions. In this way a chain of giving and benefitting is established.  

According to Stephanos Foundation Executive Director Clifford Kuyokwa, people are not supposed to pay anything as goats are given for free. 

“All that is needed is a commitment that after the goats breed, they have to give the next [beneficiary] family in line the same number of goats we gave them. 

“I am happy that things are going according to plan and many families have benefitted,” said Kuyokwa. 

Sumani said she was able to quickly pass on her “debt” as one of her goats gave birth to triplets. 

“I thought it would take long for me to pass on the three goats to another beneficiary. But I was surprised to see a goat giving birth to three kids. After some weeks, I gave them to my friend,” she said. 

Kuyokwa said that the breed of the goats they are donating is very fertile and often has multiple births; in addition, the kids grow up quickly. The average goat gestation period lasts about 150 days, so it is possible for a female goat to give birth twice a year. 

Sumani says she is now able to pay fees for her children and also buy food for the family. 

Her area was devastated by tropical storm Ana in late January 2022, which destroyed crops and property, and she was able to start rebuilding after selling some goats. She currently has a herd of seven goats and is deciding how to use them for the best financial gain. A goat can sell for anywhere from MK15,000 to MK25,000 ($14.6-$24.3).   

Goats are versatile 

Sumani is one of many people across Malawi that have benefitted from the programme, in which a number of organisations are involved. They include the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi, Hunger Project and Care International. 

Former Malawian President Joyce Banda encouraged the initiative. Although she suggested that the pass-on programme should also involve cattle, some people had misgivings as cattle take time to breed and multiply and also need proper feeding, while goats breed faster, can be left to wander, eat what is available around them and provide both meat and milk. 

She was however praised for increasing visibility of the programme, which many people saw as a success story. 

Minister of Education Agnes Nyalonje said many girls were failing to continue with their education because parents could not afford the fees.  

“We advocate and champion the girl child education, but we can achieve this [only] if they go to school. But with lack of fees, it has been a problem,” she said. 

Nyalonje said that the pass-on goat programme has become popular in rural communities because it brings much needed income, food and nutrition. 

The minister says in the past, whenever the family had less money for fees, priority was given to a boy child. She said with the programme, families now have enough money to send both girls and boys to school. 

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Sandram Maweru said government realises the importance of livestock farming as it brings income to families. 

Maweru said if more people, especially in rural areas, keep goats, as in the case of the pass-on programme, people will not only be able to realise an income, but also have enough food. 

“There is one ignored important benefit of keeping livestock, which is manure. For small-scale farmers, manure can replace fertiliser when it comes to soil fertility,” he said.   

What about pigs? 

Education activist Benedicto Kondowe has hailed the pass-on programme, saying it has improved education attendance in the country. 

Kondowe, who is executive director of the Civil Society Education Coalition, was particularly impressed with the breed of goats being donated as they multiply quickly and are easy to feed. 

“Many people in the villages are able to send their children to school because they have money in the form of goats,” he said. “But I would have loved to see a pass-on programme in piggery, because pigs [also] multiply a lot within a short period of time. Pork is in high demand in the country, therefore, the market is not a problem,” he said. 

Tamani Nkhono-Mvula, national director of the Civil Society Agriculture Network, echoes Kondowe’s sentiments on the need to include piggery in the programme. 

Nkhono-Mvula said that in this time of climate change, where floods and drought are commonplace, livestock farming is the only solution to food security. 

“During floods, we lose a lot of crops, which farmers rely on to pay fees for their children. But the number of livestock that is lost to the floods is small. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged to keep livestock,” he said.  

This year and late last year, Malawi has been affected by three cyclones, namely, Ana, Gombe and Jasmine, where a number of people died and several others were injured. 

People struggled to live a normal life as their houses and crops were swept away. 

Schools were also affected, forcing suspension of learning in many affected areas. 

An assessment report by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs on seven education districts showed that about 398,908 learners in 476 schools faced a poor learning environment as a result of the cyclones. 

Sumani said that although the cyclones affected her and many other farmers in her region, sweeping away their crops, she has found solace in her goats which allow her to keep her precious family in school.