Date Published: March 21, 2025
Towards food security and resilience to climate shocks.
Traditional Authority Chigaru, located in rural Blantyre North, is an area of enormous potential but underutilised agricultural capacity. The community is endowed with fertile soils, a favourable climate, underground water sources, and proximity to the Shire River, the largest river in Malawi. However, much of the land remains uncultivated due to limited access to irrigation infrastructure, farming equipment, and technical knowledge on climate-smart agriculture.
Over five million Malawians suffer from moderate to severe chronic food insecurity. The crisis is most severe in the Southern Region, where TA Chigaru is located (IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Levels 3 and 4).
Climate shocks are a major driver of this food insecurity. In February 2024, an El Niño–induced dry spell severely damaged the maize crop, Malawi’s staple food, contributing to acute food crisis conditions.
Despite strong youth and women’s self-help groups, agriculture in TA Chigaru remains subsistence-based, rain-dependent, and vulnerable to climate shocks such as droughts and floods. Food insecurity and poverty persist. Yet, the local population, especially organised groups under the Chigaru Youth Network and Umodzi Women’s Group, demonstrate commitment through voluntary community farming, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and vegetable cultivation.
To address this crisis at the grassroots level, Project 4U2B Permaculture is an ambitious initiative to establish a permaculture and agribusiness hub in TA Chigaru that will:
Build climate resilience by promoting climate-smart agriculture practices, such as water harvesting, agroforestry, mulching, and drought-resistant crop varieties.
Enable irrigation and infrastructure development, tapping into underground water sources and proximity to the Shire River to reduce reliance on unpredictable rainfall.
Empower local groups, especially youth and women, through capacity building: training self-help groups (like Chigaru Youth Network and Umodzi Women’s Group) in permaculture design, farm management, and agribusiness.
Create sustainable food systems, by linking production with local markets, improving post-harvest handling (storage, preservation), and developing value-added products.
Foster cooperative agribusiness, enabling farmers to pool resources, share risk, and achieve economies of scale.
Monitor and evaluate outcomes in terms of food production, income generation, nutrition, and environmental impact, to ensure the model is scalable and replicable.
By implementing Project 4U2B Permaculture, we aim to:
Strengthen community resilience to climate shocks.
Improve dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes for women and children.
Grow household incomes through surplus production and value-added products.
Increase food security for participating households by reducing seasonal food gaps.
Build a replicable model of permaculture-based development that can be scaled to other regions.
This initiative is implemented in partnership with the local organisation known as, “Society of Resilience and Responsible Organisation” domiciled in the territory of TA Chigaru.
We are supplimenting government’s efforts to achieve food security.
Partner with us. Support this cause.
