Vulnerable families in Phalombe are now building resilience and improving their livelihoods, thanks to the Sustainable Village Savings and Loans program being implemented by DAPP Malawi.
DAPP Malawi was contracted by the Financial Access for Rural Markets, Smallholders and Enterprises (FARMSE) to implement a Sustainable Village Savings and Loans for community members through Farmers Club Project targeting to increase income of 37,500 beneficiaries in Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay districts from 2020 to June 2023.
Meanwhile John Chitupila, Project Manager for DAPP Malawi told MIJ Online that from July this year, the organization is implementing an extension of the program in the districts of Phalombe, Zomba,Chikwawa and Nsanje for 21 months.
” The Community Based Financial program focuses on the rural area where we are targeting the un-bankable society who have no access to financial services such as banks in order to capacitate them on income generating activities. This will in turn help them improve their livelihoods.
The program works to support the graduation of poor Malawians from extreme poverty to a productive and sustainable livelihoods,” said Chitupila.
Egile Chogowa, a 37 year old mother of five from Likulwa Village, T/A Nkhumba in Phalombe district is one of the beneficiaries of the program under Chigonjetso Village Savings.
Chogiwa told MIJ Online that her family could not afford basic needs but since joining the program their livelihood has improved with access to financial support and business skills training gotten through the project.
“As a group we are involved in various economic activities such as commercial farming. Our lives have really changed, my family is now sleeping in a good house with iron sheets, something I never thought will become possible for me in this lifetime,” expressed Egile.
FARMSE is a is a seven-year government of Malawi development programme project-being implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs from 2018 to 2025. The programme supports household economic development through access to financial services that are appropriate to each socioeconomic level of poverty.