Mweziukawala 1 Credit Group

The Mweziukawala 1 Group is located in Ntcheu district in the village of Mweziukawala. The group consists of five married women who collectively care for 12 children. To support their families and ensure their children can attend school, these women cultivate Irish potatoes. They have sought a loan to invest in their farming business, which will allow them to better provide for their families.

One of the group members, Lifina, is a 42-year-old married woman who supports her family, consisting of four children. She has been growing Irish potatoes for three years with, the help of two family members, while her husband is also a farmer. Lifina started growing Irish potatoes to ensure her family could have enough food, so her children wouldn’t face difficulties in their lives. The group has requested a loan to purchase fertiliser, which will improve the quality of their harvest, enabling them to sell at a profit. Lifina hopes to grow her farming business to the point where it can fully sustain her family’s basic needs and allow her to build a modern house.

The Microloan Foundation, Lendwithcare's local partner in Malawi employs a unique 'centre' model for lending to female entrepreneurs. A centre comprises several sub-groups which share the same name as the centre. As such, you may have seen similarly named group loans from Malawi all belonging to the same centre. In this system, each woman is individually responsible for repaying her loan, but the group offers mutual support by assuming overall responsibility together.