23rd April 2020: As Malawi heads into battle with Covid-19 with the most minimal of defences, we in Ireland have no concept of the war that wages this time each year there, against the most deadly of killers which is that of Hunger. As we sit and
On my first day in the factory I saw one of the workers drilling holes into the small and big valve and – having built a CNC router at home a few years ago – I thought it is a waste of time if she
5th November 2018: This is our main farm in Lusangazi about 11 km from our Centre in Mzuzu City. We bought it in 2007 when we discovered that you couldn't buy an open pollinated seed in Mzuzu. We even drove the 1000 km round trip to
29th October 2018: I think these are the first peaches on the farm. Just grafted and out of the greenhouse. Fruiting already! Can't wait for a taste. Two of the 37,800 fruit tree seedlings produced this year. Well done team!
22nd October 2018: This is a piece of land that we were given the use of at the end of last year by our local Bishop John Ryan, where we invite people to come and learn about trees and forestry. It shows people how to plant trees
7th August 2018: Most times I'm tough as nails because when dealing with Malawi one has to be. But when it comes to our women and girls, the tears can flow. When I realised that many of the 262 girls we support in Secondary school had no knickers,
June 27th 2018: On the farm in Lusangazi we have about 100 varieties of trees and plants. This is Blayers managing the strawberries in this case, but it could be 6 varieties of tomato, pineapples, peaches, mango, papaya, cabbages
11th June 2018: At this time of year the maize has ripened and dried in most areas. Here are Angelina and Maggie shelling the corn cobs to produce maize seeds These will later be shelled and ground to a fine flour which is the main staple diet for
28th May 2018: The single biggest issue with water in Sub-Saharan Africa in the lack of maintenance, where pumps are installed and no one returns to see if its still functioning all day everyday. For the last month we have initiated a programme of phoning and by
3rd April 2018: They come to do regular classes and have a little fun, but they are exposed to horticulture as well. We have a large space around the Centre with lots of plants growing so they can learn how to feed themselves. Here they are picking Guavas:
4th January 2018: Tomatoes are a big part of the Malawi diet at village level. Sadly we can't grow the local varieties successfully on the farm. We refuse to use noxious chemicals, so the local, GM varieties are attacked by pests the we can't control with our
22nd December 2017: In our twelve years farming in Lusangazi, we have expanded our horizons considerably. Besides organic/sustainable/agro-forestry, we have a big focus on producing improved varieties of fruit trees. We now have nine varieties of Mango, which extend the season in which mango is available to eat.