One Acre Fund home
Enife Matemba stands in her destroyed field in Mulanje, Malawi
A Malawian family impacted by a recent cyclone stand in their compound

Malawi’s farm families need your support

Can you imagine seeing years of hard work destroyed in a matter of days? That’s the situation faced by farmers across Southern Malawi which has been devastated by Cyclone Freddy, the longest and most energetic tropical storm ever recorded.

In just four days, at least 500 Malawians were killed and over half a million displaced, with severe flooding, landslides and extreme winds causing untold damage. Of the 11 districts One Acre Fund operates in, 7 have been directly impacted and almost a quarter of the 95,000 famers we serve in Malawi have suffered crop damage. 

Smallholder farmers are highly vulnerable to extreme weather, and most of our clients were in the midst of April harvesting when the cyclone struck. 1.6 million Malawians are now reported to be severely food insecure (source: World Food Programme). 

The damage wreaked by Cyclone Freddy also comes just as farmers were recovering from Cyclone Ana, which hit Southern Malawi in January 2022. Enife’s (pictured below) farm was devastated by Cyclone Ana, with heavy rains washing away half her crops – her family’s only source of income.

Enife, a farmer in Malawi stands in field devastated by Cyclone Ana
“After the heavy rains, when I went into my fields, almost half was gone. And the rest, from the water logging, were turning yellow and their leaves were all torn. Even the pigeon peas were dying. It impacted me in that my harvests were low so I didn’t get any income."

Enife Matemba

What your donation will achieve

Your donation will help us to provide swift support to our affected Malawian clients, staff, and their communities through the following activities:

  • Carry out measurement and evaluation to understand the extent of damage to clients' farms and livelihoods.
  • Use assessments to inform an effective response strategy - potentially including: 
    • Mass distribution of drying tarps, a simple intervention that can prevent rotting of flooded harvests.
    • A second distribution of inputs later this year, equipping farmers to replant crops such as beans and maize to support food security.  
  • Support to our staff and their families in affected areas, helping to ensure they are safe and connecting them to community resources. 
  • Coordinate with peer organizations to restore damaged infrastructure (e.g. bridges), to enable continued flow of inputs and supplies to farmers.

100% of funds received will go towards immediately supporting hardest-hit Malawian farmers.

Donate now