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…“Before being instructed by AICC agronomists on the use of the Zero Cooling Chamber in September 2019, we were losing a lot of produce every week because of over-ripening at the farm and the produce being stored at an ambient temperature in an open room of our houses,”… 

Much of the post-harvest losses of horticultural products in Malawi is due to lack of proper storage facilities.  Total horticultural produce is lost during harvest and storage which reduces the growers share.  While refrigerated cool stores are the best method of preserving horticultural products, they are expensive to buy and difficult to run especially in rural areas where there is no electricity. Storage of fresh horticultural produce after harvesting is one of the most pressing problems of horticultural farmers in Mndolera EPA. As one way of mitigating the storage problem for horticultural farmers in Mndolera EPA, AICC through CASH project is promoting the use of the Zero Cooling Chamber as one of the better alternative for storage of horticultural produce.

…“I am now into pig production and I have managed to buy land of my own. I can assure everyone that when my kids grow, I will take them to private school using the income I am getting from groundnuts production.  My life has surely changed,”…

Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) project is not leaving the youth behind in involving them in agricultural activities. With most young people living in rural areas, where agriculture is likely to provide the main source of income, it is vital that young people are connected with farming. A lot of cooperatives that have been working with WEE project have youth as part of their members. Youth has been engaged in groundnuts production where all the relevant extension services have been imparted to them.

The development of small and medium enterprises is subject to many limitations that emerges both from their external environments, internal weaknesses and lack of knowledge in small business management. Lack of improved business management skills and application of these skills are some of the biggest factors contributing to SMEs failure. As one way of improving small and medium enterprises (SMEs), African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) through its Agribusiness Acceleration Initiative (AAI) project is improving SMEs with high potential of growth through tailor-made agribusiness solutions that includes training in improved business management.