From Seeds to Systems: How Harvest Malawi’s Work in Nkope Has Grown

December 2025

A progress recap, exactly where funds went, and our 2026 direction

Introduction

We have grown, and we have endured. Since our last full update, your support has driven steady progress in education, health, and livelihoods in Malawi. Preschoolers continue to receive daily meals, school clubs keep gardens and environmental projects alive, and households are planting fruit trees and vegetables with composting and water saving methods. Women’s groups are earning from fuel-efficient stoves, mushrooms, and fresh produce, and our centre is now a place where hands-on training turns into real sales. This momentum continued even with many challenges faced over the last few years: high lake levels, storm damage from cyclones, inflation, and a slow post pandemic recovery in volunteer-linked funding.

Thank you for standing with us and the families in Nkope and surrounding villages during a very difficult period.

At a glance

• Where: Nkope and neighboring villages in Mangochi District, anchored at the Thiwi Education Centre.

• Approach: Agroecology and permaculture education leading to household food security, enterprise pilots, and demand led aggregation.

• Partners: Registered Trustees of Naturally Africa for day-to-day operations, village leaders and school clubs, emerging market partners including Sunbird Hotels and other lakeshore lodges in collaboration with AgriHubs and Charis Farms.

Progress Update

Education and care continued without interruption. Preschool feeding from our agriculture program provided daily meals that kept children in class and ready to learn. Environmental and school garden clubs strengthened practical learning, with students helping to raise seedlings and manage vegetable beds around the schools. Home based care and wound care groups maintained their visits with basic supplies and training so that people received support close to home. This care is a lifeline for Nkope and the surrounding villages.

Photos of Nkope school feeding & education programs (2023-2025):

Production moved from training plots into sales. Enterprise pilots reached important milestones.

As waters receded, following the lake flooding in 2023/2024, we cleared and fenced hectares to protect against livestock and to test the local market. Early harvests of okra, tomato, eggplant, onion, pepper, and pumpkin were sold to nearby villages while we learned from pest pressure and timing. The orchard continued to mature with banana, papaya, mango, lemon, and guava.

Photos of various crops (2023-2025):

(including eggplant, lemon, tomato, banana, papaya, guava, pumpkin)

With water levels dropping following surges, we prepared an intercrop plan for a larger block, combining bananas with sugarcane, soya, maize, and vegetables. This mix balances income opportunities with nutrition and can also support the feeding scheme when needed.

Next, a mushroom shed was built and the first crop of oyster mushrooms was grown, harvested, and sold in 2024, with the next cycle queued. Hot peppers were launched in recycled grow bags, which are now fruiting and ready to scale for steady demand. A new pig khola was constructed and healthy stock identified for transfer to begin the livestock income stream. The efficient clay stove group restarted production, upgraded clay sourcing after quality issues, and completed a first batch with new tools.

Photos of oyster mushroom crop & shed (2024-2025):

Photos of hot peppers (2024-2025):

Water and core infrastructure were strengthened, repaired and protected, despite various cyclones hitting the area. After a lightning surge and various cyclones over the last few years, the solar control board at the water tower was replaced and weather protected so that water could flow reliably again. Where flooding damaged drip lines, we restored what we could and prepared to replace the most worn tapes as fields dry. At the centre, the demonstration homestead was completed and the nursery shade was erected to support seedling production.

Training and inclusion deepened. A refreshed permaculture course brought in sixty households with twenty representatives each from Nkope, Tukululu, and Liganga. Households received follow up mentoring and starter materials from the centre so that learning translated into home plots and income. The seedling pipeline was strengthened, producing about two thousand tree and vegetable seedlings for both households and the demo plots.

Where your donations have gone since 2023

• Education and care services: Preschool meals from agriculture program, school agriculture club materials, and home-based care facilitation so lifelines stayed open.

• Water and irrigation resilience: Solar control board replacement and protection, piping and maintenance, and partial drip line repairs.

• Production and orchards: Nursery shade materials, seed and trays, approximately two thousand tree tubes, recycled grow bag supplies, and composting inputs.

• Enterprise pilots: Mushroom shed and spawn, efficient clay stove tools and upgraded clay source, pig khola materials, and basic fencing.

• Field recovery and inputs: Labor to clear and fence the one hundred by fifteen meter strip, seed, soil amendments, and IPM kits.

• Training and inclusion: Facilitators, household starter packs, and support to the demonstration plots so that training leads to sales.

Plans for 2026

In 2026 we will continue supporting the education programs and training. We are excited to announce that our focus will be on organizing production through a practical AgriHub anchored at the Mangochi centre with village spokes. The hub will align crop calendars to buyer demand, aggregate harvests, and coordinate delivery to lakeshore hospitality markets. Many lodges and hotels currently import a significant share of fresh produce from outside Malawi, often from Zambia, on an annual basis. Our aim is to replace those imports with dependable local supply that keeps value in the community and grows local jobs.

Operations will focus on simple steps that deliver reliability. We will restore and expand drip on priority blocks, run monthly mushroom cycles, scale pepper bag culture, and establish banana blocks with nutritious intercrops such as soya and maize. The hub will provide on site coaching in soil health and composting, practical IPM kits, record keeping, and post harvest handling for grading and packing. Kristina has connected with partners in South Africa who are collaborating with exceptional Malawian practitioners, strengthening market access and technical support for the hub.

• Buyer alignment: work with Sunbird and allied lodges on varieties, quality, and delivery windows.

• Team capacity: hire an Agriculture Business Manager to coordinate farmer support, scheduling, and buyer relationships. An excellent candidate has been identified.

• Data and inclusion: track volumes and quality, expand women’s enterprise groups, and onboard new households with starter packs tied to demand.

In 2026, the Harvest Malawi team located in the US and South Africa also will travel to Nkope Village for a site visit. We are excited to share updates with you following this experience.

If you wish to donate

Future gifts will help strengthen irrigation reliability, coordinate the AgriHub, equip the Agriculture Manager, and onboard more households into demand led production so families can earn from reliable local markets. Our priority is a model that sustains itself through sales and creates dignified local employment. For information on how to donate, please visit: https://www.harvestmalawi17.com/make-a-donation

Gratitude

To everyone who gave time, resources, and encouragement, thank you. Your support kept classrooms active and meals on tables when weather made farming unpredictable. You helped create and repair sustainable water systems and build practical spaces where learning turns into income, from the nursery shade to the demonstration homestead. You stood with women’s groups as they restarted enterprises and with families as they planted trees and vegetables at home. We are deeply grateful for the trust you place in local leadership and for the steady commitment that allows progress to take root. Together we are building a resilient, demand driven local food system in Nkope and neighboring villages, and we are excited to share the next chapter with you.