How smallholder coffee farmers in Mzimba, Malawi are beating poverty and child labour

LILONGWE (ILO News) - The global fight against child labour cannot be won without addressing its root cause: poverty. The story of the Kachere Zone Business Group illustrates how targeted support can break this cycle. The group started with 8 members and has since grown to 17 members.

© ILO/Chisomo

© ILO/Chisomo

Before receiving support from the ACCEL Africa project financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, members faced significant financial insecurity. Delays in payments for their coffee sales meant farmers struggled to cover essential expenses such as school fees and scholastic materials for their children, and other basic needs.

"During a meeting at our coffee cooperative, we expressed our concerns about the delays in payments. The cooperative manager then explained an upcoming project designed to support us through a business group where we could generate diversified income to support our families." Kachere Zone Business Group member.

In 2022 the group received crucial support from the ACCEL Africa project in form training on business management using the ILO’s Start Your Business (SYB) module; and a start-up capital amounting to MWK640,000 (approximately USD 365.51). The members strategically invested this capital into a beans business: buying and selling beans.

Their initial venture was immediately profitable, yielding MWK60,000 (USD 34.27) in profit from their first sale. Building on this momentum, the group utilized the initial investment and profit (totalling MWK700,000 or USD 399.78) to rent farmland and cultivate maize, a highly marketable commodity within their community. This maize harvest proved highly successful, generating total sales of MWK1,775,000 (USD 1,013.71). In 2024/2025 season, the group cultivated maize and made sales of MWK4,600,000 (USD 2,627.07). The group the group reinvested the money into their farming business, and shared equally part of proceedings to ease household level financial burdens members have had. The group’s collective strength has also empowered them to set and negotiate fairer prices with vendors who previously demanded less favourable terms.

Kachere group’s success extended beyond the initial project support. They established a sustainable Village Savings and Loans (VSL) initiative, meeting monthly with a share price pegged at MWK5,000 (USD 2.86). Members now access soft loans from the VSL, which they use to invest further in their farms and livestock.

Demonstrating foresight and a commitment to long-term wealth creation, the group also invested in reforestation, planting 200 pine trees in 2024 and an additional 400 in 2025. The group is also benefitting the factory such that in 2025 they contributed MWK70,000 for Diesel for processing their coffee. This motivated other members zone to join the VSL initiative.

The impact on individual members is profound. 47 years old Michael Nkhoma, the group secretary, leveraged the group business and VSL loans to purchase 2 pigs, extend his farmland with an additional 1000 coffee trees, and establish a coffee nursery. Crucially, he is now consistently able to provide for his children’s educational needs. Two other members have also extended their coffee farmland, said Mr. Nkhoma.

Bestard Longwe has a grocery shop within the community using the money made from the group business to improve his family’s livelihood. Johana Phiri also shared that since joining the group, she does not longer worry about hte school fees and scholastic materials for her grandchildren.

“Since ACCEL Africa was implemented here, there is increased knowledge about the dangers of child labour, farmers are no longer using children in their farms. There is also a noticeable change in behaviour among the youth as they are now busy with their businesses which they started after being trained in various trades.” Mr. Joel Nkhoma

The group’s ultimate goal is to build a guesthouse to generate more income and expand their coffee farming operations by purchasing additional land, securing a prosperous and self-reliant future for their community.