HAVING obtained her bachelor's degree in Arts majoring in drama,she had no idea that her life’s script would ironically witness a dramatic shift and twist.
Lyka Thakwalakwa–an emerging young business leader from Malawi says soon after graduating, she found herself struggling to find employment and ended up working as a stock controller before embarking on farming as a side hustle.
“I spent 2 years job hunting before finding myself a job in 2014 where I was working as a stock controller (in the accounts department) for a certain business in my community. Later I was moved to the HR department where I worked as an HR assistant. Because of zero job satisfaction, I started farming as a side hustle. I bought land and started rearing goats and sheep. That is what ignited my passion and I would soon buy a piece of land to concentrate on farming full-time.
Thakwalakwa believes that the future of Africa lies in sustainable agriculture and environmental conversation.
With expertise in sustainable beekeeping and rice farming/processing, Thakwalakwa manages a diversified agricultural business that promotes eco-friendly practices, supports local food systems, and produces high-quality products.
“I have five years’ of experience in sustainable beekeeping and honey production. My business manages bee colonies, produces, processes, and packages organic honey, and threeyears experience as a rice farmer where I cultivate harvest, process, and market high-quality milled white rice”
The highly aggressive and passionate agripreneur says she decided to officially register her farm as a business so that it would operate formally and professionally whilst contributing to her nation’s coffers.
“Now apart from just farming, we are into processing and packaging to add value to our products. And on top of that, we teach fellow farmers in our community about sustainable agriculture in Honey and Livestock farming” she added.
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Her business Nsangu Livestock and Foods is an agricultural value-addition business based in Chikwawa, Malawi. Apart from rice and honey, the enterprise produces various types of meat, including mutton, lamb, and pork. Additionally, it sells livestock such as goats, sheep, and pigs to farmers. It also trains local women and youth in beekeeping.
As a passionate farmer and entrepreneur,I founded Nsangu Livestock and Foods in 2021 to share my love for sustainable agriculture. From rice and honey to livestock breeding and meat production our goal is to transform agriculture in Malawi by adopting sustainable practices, empowering local communities, and producing high-quality products that delight our customers.
So far, there are four products in our portfolio. These include milled white rice, raw honey, livestock for breeding, and meat products. The honey and rice are packaged and pre-certified by the Malawi Bureau of Standards. These products are produced by ourselves at the farm, and when the demand is high we source from other smallholder farmer groups in my community that were created by us. We supply our products to hotels, restaurants,some supermarkets, and smallholder farmers.
Sharing herhoney story:
In 2023, we discovered that charcoal making as a major economic activity in our community is negatively affecting our beekeeping and Honey business since bees need forests to survive. We took it as our initiative to start training and equipping women and youth in our community in sustainable beekeeping thereby creating for them an alternative to charcoal making. We support our trainees by providing them with a ready market by making them our suppliers of honey for our factory. The training program which started in January this year has benefited 20 community members and they say they were targeting to continue with these empowerment initiatives.
The Malawian change driver also empowers women and youth in her community to take control of their livelihoods, giving them sustainable economic growth, as well as protecting our forests and environment.
The two products trade under my business name NsanguLivestock and Foods, and they have both been approved by the Malawi Bureau of Standards to be produced in large quantities.
Challenges
Regarding challenges she faces in running her business,she says climate change and farming in a drought-prone region have been some of the impediments she faces.
“The district I stay in is flood and drought-pronewhich in turn negatively affects my agribusiness. To overcome this, we have turned to irrigation farming and setting our farms on highlands away from riverbanks”
Amongst other challenges she faces, she expressed concern over the lack of finance and funding characterized by high interest rates which make bank loans prohibitive as it would make it impossible to service the loan and still remain profitable.She has however vowed to remain resilient as she aims to be a big exporter over the coming years.
YALI Experience
Sharing her recent YALI Experience, she says as a young agriprenuer and YALI Alumnus, she had been empowered to pursue her dreams in agriculture and make a difference in her community through sustainable farming practices and entrepreneurship.
“YALI has ignited in me the desire to grow and make a great impact in my community and beyond” she stated.
Fungayi Antony Sox is the founder and managing partner at TisuMazwi–a consulting, communications, media, and publishing entity based in Harare. He is also an Alumnus of the Yali Regional Leadership Centre for Southern Africa. For feedback, he can be reached on +263 776 030 949 or LinkedIn at Fungayi Antony Sox.
