How Agribusiness Helped Marshall Strengthen Her Farm and Secure Her Children’s Future
In the Blantyre District in Malawi, Marshall, a 43-year-old smallholder farmer, is building a stable future for her family through persistence, smart investment, and practical farming knowledge.
As a single mother of three young children, ages 3, 5, and 7, Marshall carries the full responsibility for her household. For more than five years, she has relied on her farming income to provide for her family. She began with maize production for food and small sales, then gradually expanded into pigeon peas, groundnuts, and dry-season vegetables such as tomatoes. Diversifying her crops allowed her to earn income throughout the year while improving food security at home.
Like many farmers in her region, Marshall faces ongoing challenges. High labor costs, expensive farm inputs, climate change effects, and monkeys destroying her crops regularly threaten her harvests; and managing three acres of land alone is already demanding, especially while raising young children. Access to reliable markets also remains limited.
Despite these barriers, Marshall continues to learn, adapt, and improve her farming practices.
Growing Her Farm and Protecting Her Harvest
With support from agricultural extension workers, Marshall learned how to produce and apply organic manure. By adopting these improved practices, she strengthened soil fertility, increased yields, and reduced her reliance on costly chemical fertilizers. This shift lowered her production costs and made her farm more sustainable.
To address crop damage from monkeys, she hired men with dogs to protect her fields – an investment that helped secure her harvest and protect her income.
Her willingness to adopt new techniques and make strategic decisions has strengthened her farm season after season.
Expanding Through Smart Financial Decisions
In 2024, Marshall joined Pauh Village Bank to improve her financial management and access capital for growth. She borrowed $460 USD to invest in watermelon farming and earned a profit of $115 USD after sales. Rather than spending the earnings, she reinvested them in maize and groundnut production to continue expanding her agribusiness.
Her farming income now helps her pay school fees, buy clothing, and meet household needs consistently. Her family enjoys food security throughout the year, and she plans each season with greater confidence.
Building Stability at Home and Planning Ahead
With higher income and better planning, Marshall has created a more stable environment for her children. She no longer farms simply to survive one season at a time. She farms with clear goals.
Looking ahead, her plans are to:
· expand her farmland,
· hire additional workers to increase productivity,
· move into value addition by processing tomatoes into sauce,
· process groundnuts into peanut products and cooking oil.
She sees value addition as the next step toward increasing profits and reducing reliance on raw crop sales.
“Farming is everything in my life,” she says. “It provides for my children and gives me hope for a better future.”
Marshall’s story demonstrates what becomes possible when determination, improved agricultural practices, and access to community finance work together. Through steady progress and informed decisions, she continues to strengthen her farm, support her children’s education, and build long-term security for her family.
