Smallholder tea association taking lead in sustaining youth empowerment initiatives in Malawi

Msuwadzi Tea Association, one of the members of the National Tea Growers Association (NSTGA), is located in Thyolo District in the Southern Region of Malawi. It is one of the 2 associations and 1 cooperative in the District who with a commitment to support youth within their communities to enhance their employability and venture into entrepreneurship through vocational skills development. The Association has taken the initiative of using its own funds to provide apprenticeship for the beneficiaries of the ILO project called Accelerating the elimination of child labour in global supply chains in Africa (ACCEL Africa) which is funded by the Government of Netherlands. 

From 2018-2024 in Malawi the ACCEL Africa project focused on tea supply chain in Mulanje and Thyolo; and coffee supply chain in Ntchisi, Mzimba and Chitipa Districts.  Youth empowerment through vocational skills 3-months training in various trades is one of the key intervention areas which has been implemented in collaboration with TEVETA, District Councils (including the following offices: Labour, Youth, Community Development, and Social Welfare). This has led to 282 youth successfully graduating, of which 132 youth (98 male, 34 female) were from tea growing districts. 

“The program was good as it empowered our youth who also received start up toolkits. The Association has engaged a Tailor, who is also from the community, to train the 3 female beneficiaries to improve their skills further as the period for project support was only for three months” Said Mr. Harrison Maulidi, the Chairperson of the Association. 

The Association is making the payment amounting to MWK200,000 (approximately 114 USD, at MWK1751/USD) for a period of 3 months for the apprenticeship services the Tailor is providing to the girls, and the working space at their center (office). The materials being used are the start up toolkits the project gave the beneficiaries and the cloths brought by customers. As the Association is taking its role in ensuring that the skills of beneficiaries are improving, parents were also engaged to take part in the initiative by providing food for lunch during the apprenticeship period. 

The beneficiaries—Margret Moses (20), Thokozani Tambala (21), and Chinsisi Westoni (20)—share a similar background marked by significant livelihood challenges. They experienced periods without food, were forced to drop out of school due to financial hardship, and relied on informal piece work to survive. Thanks to the support provided by the project and the association, they are now filled with hope. With new skills and opportunities, these young women are on a path to realizing their dreams of becoming designers and achieving financial independence. The Chairperson of the NSTGA, Mr. Jones Muhilima mentioned “we were involved in all the processes including identification of the beneficiaries. Even without support, we continue to monitor the beneficiaries and provide any necessary support we can. Some of the beneficiaries have also found employment, and others are doing own businesses”. 

Msuwadzi Tea Association plans to continue supporting youth within the community and utilise the project beneficiaries to train others.  

The ACCEL Africa project used the associations and cooperatives which exists within the communities, through the Districts Councils, to support the youth and livelihoods empowerment. As such, there is great sense of ownership among these structures which leads to them taking own initiatives to continue supporting the youth. This is sustainable good practice which is sustainable.