This week, I wish to focus on one specific project, which aptly illustrates the difference between dependency-inducing aid and sustainable development.

The project in question concerns a particular village within the Salima District. Despite bordering Lake Malawi, the area is very susceptible to drought. Most people rely on subsistence farming, but if the rains are insufficient, then they have neither the food to eat nor the means to obtain it. This project, by providing a secure income source to the villagers, acts as a safety net if the crops fail; the villagers can use the profits to supplement their nutrition, and thus avoid starvation.

So what is this project? Well, this ‘income source’ comprises the manufacture and retail of fuel-efficient stoves. The charity we’re working with (AGREDS – Assemblies of God Relief & Development Service) firstly set up a loans and savings scheme within this village. This enabled the villagers to purchase the requisite equipment for making the stoves. Using only readily available materials (namely, bricks, soil and water), the stoves can be churned out at a rate of 60 per day. These are then purchased by the charity at a fair price and sold in local markets.

Already, the villagers have repaid their start-up loan and have set aside all their profits in a bank account. This money will then be distributed to the village as and when the need arises.

To the village itself, the impact is obvious. Its inhabitants do not live in fear of food shortages, as they now possess the resources to compensate for any shortfall in their maize yields. They are also able to look after themselves, rather than having to rely on handouts from the government or relief organisations. This new self-sufficiency in turn enables them to pursue more fulfilling lives: the adults have the capital to invest in enterprise and business; the children have a greater likelihood of receiving a full education.

But what difference does such a project make to the wider community, to the region as a whole? Happily, the benefits are not monopolised by this single village. Everyone in this area relies on charcoal for fuel, which is made by burning timber. Charcoal is becoming increasingly hard to obtain, due to deforestation, rising costs and the droughts (which prevent new trees growing to replenish those felled). By supplying fuel-efficient stoves, the local community can maximise the usage of its dwindling charcoal resources. In conjunction with an extensive afforestation programme, this is delivering economic and environmental benefits.   

It is projects such as this that make a real and positive difference to people in Malawi. Charities and NGOs may abound here, but this nation remains one of the most impoverished in the world. We want to help these people to help themselves, rather than fostering a dependency on foreign aid. I’ve seen with my own eyes just how projects like this can achieve this objective, and in so doing empower the target community to break out of the poverty that grips it.