Malawi Livestock for Resilience Quarterly Report January 2015 – March 2015

The project aims to build and maintain the livestock asset base, improve technical capacity of smallholder farmers, scale-up provision of animal health services, and increase savings and financial literacy of 6,000 direct beneficiaries in ten communities of Dowa and Ntchisi districts in Central Malawi. During the reporting period of January to March 2015, the project accomplished several activities. A total of 225 new groups were established, resulting in a total of 300 livestock producer and marketing groups formed since project inception. Additionally, 150 Livestock Lead Farmers (LLFs) were identified and trained in basic animal health care, and 150 Village Agents were identified and trained in Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) methodology. The project also formed 225 new VSLAs within producer groups, resulting in a total of 300 VSLAs. A total of 4,699 VSLA members were registered and trained in VSLA methodology. The project facilitated savings and loans among VSLA groups, with a total of MWK 4,467,085 (USD $8,934.17) saved and MWK 3,173,954 (USD $6,347.91) loaned. The LLFs provided 35,288 animal health treatments, including vaccinations against Newcastle disease, deworming, and castration. The LLFs also realized a cumulative gross revenue of MWK 820,638 (USD $1,641.28). The project established and conducted demonstrations on ten AnswerPlot sites, which included planting different varieties of food, fodder crops, and agroforestry trees. The project staff conducted a market assessment in Dowa, Ntchisi, Lilongwe, and Kasungu districts to establish the levels of demand and supply of livestock and identify potential markets within goats and chicken value chains. The survey findings indicated an enormous market for livestock and livestock products in surrounding towns and Lilongwe city. The project team worked with LLFs to conduct farmer demonstrations of best practices at the AnswerPlot sites during the reporting period. The project staff also conducted a screening process of all producer groups to ensure alignment of members to self-selected groups based on livestock type of interest (chickens or goats) and to help reduce the influx of ineligible members. The project established 10 AnswerPlot sites, one in each impact area, which is more than the targeted 8. The project team worked with LLFs to conduct farmer demonstrations of best practices at these plots during the reporting period. The project staff also conducted initial trainings with producer group members in business and marketing skills, where 3,238 people (1,681 males and 1,557 females) were in attendance. The project's next steps include providing animal health services, forming additional VSLAs, training Village Agents and producer group members in household enterprise, facilitating construction of animal housing, and continuing with savings and loan among others.