In the heart of Machinga District, hope is slowly returning to thousands of households which were experiencing abject poverty, partly due to poor harvests, thanks to the KFW-funded Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP). For families once on the brink of despair, the support has been more than just aid—it’s been a lifeline.
Over 80,000 vulnerable households have received cash and food relief through the program, launched to cushion people from the devastating impact of poor harvests induced by the El Niño phenomenon. Among those touched by this support is Leonard Mwakhulu, a father of seven from Mtila Village, Traditional Authority Sitola in the district.
Through the program, the Government of Malawi supported each household with a 50 kilogram bag of maize for four months, and others received money amounting to K70,000 per month.
Life had taken a painful turn for Leonard and his family. With crops destroyed and no food left to feed his children, he feared for their survival.
“We had nothing,” Leonard recalls. “No food, no money—just hunger and hopelessness.”
But the Social Cash Transfer Program changed everything. With the money and food he received, Leonard not only fed his family but also dared to dream again. He started a small poultry business and is now planning to raise goats, taking his first steps towards financial independence.
“The hunger was too much. My children couldn’t even go to school. But now, we have something to look forward to,” he says with a smile.
Leonard also used part of the support to grow his mat-selling business, slowly building a safety net for his family’s future.
The impact reaches across the district. In Kwilasya Village, 87-year-old Patuma Wyson says the program saved her life. Before the assistance, she and her four children survived by foraging wild vegetables—a desperate act that often left them sick and weak.
“We were starving,” she says softly. “Now, I eat and sleep in peace.”
Grateful for the support, Patuma has a message for fellow beneficiaries: “Njala ndi yoopsa, kudya ndi kofunikira, chonde osagulitsa thandizo la chimanga”—”Hunger is dangerous, food is essential, please don’t sell the maize.”
She called on the government and its partners to maintain the program, highlighting that poor harvests in the last growing season left many families food insecure.
Daniel Zidana, Machinga District’s Principal Social Welfare Officer, says he is proud of how communities are embracing the support and using it to transform their lives.
“Many are now running small businesses, planning, and slowly breaking free from poverty. That’s the true goal—to empower, not just provide,” he said.
In a time when hope seemed lost, the Social Cash Transfer Program has given families in Machinga not just food and money, but a renewed sense of dignity, purpose, and possibility.
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