Communities can thrive when they have access to quality health and education services; and when they have attainable opportunities for inclusive, sustainable livelihoods.  

 

Unfortunately, for many Malawians, this is not the case today. At ICL, we work with a range of clients to develop holistic and sustainable (social, economic, environmental) solutions to address this using a number of approaches/strategies. These include improved nutrition and food security outcomes and addressing gender issues among households. We also aim to build the resilience of vulnerable populations by improving risk management techniques through livelihood creation strategies, such as crop and income diversification. Based on project experience and learning, our inclusive participatory approach to community engagement provides the basis for assessing opportunities for alternative livelihoods and working to empower communities to access them.  

 

 

Featured Projects:

 

Research Triangle Institute (RT) - Food Systems Research and Stakeholder Engagement (2022)

RTI international approached Imani to conduct research on two nutritious value chains – fish and dairy – in Malawi, with specific reference to the external domain and market-side factors impacting accessibility and availability to rural households. ICL contributed to RTI (with direction from USAID)’s selection of value chains, devised a research methodology to meet RTI’s objectives, conducted extensive key informant interviews with private sector, governmental, and donor-funded agencies working in the value chains, to ultimately produce two comprehensive market systems assessments and facilitate a multi-sectoral stakeholder workshop. Actionable recommendations to increase the provision and accessibility of fish and dairy in Malawi were validated by stakeholders and presented to RTI, USAID, and stakeholders

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IFAW - The Chikolongo Farm Livelihood Project (2013-Present)

Developed to address poaching related-concerns, and to reduce instances of human-wildlife conflict, the project offers communities on the boundary of Liwonde National Park opportunities for alternative livelihoods. In addition, the farm is designed to offer a more sustainable source of dietary protein for consumption and sale. The farm consists of five fish ponds, poultry houses, an apiary and one hectare of land for agricultural farming among 24 households. The project also supplies solar-powered irrigation to project plots, its commercially farmed land, and piped water to communities outside the park.

             

IDH - Improved Nutrition for Tea Estate Workers (2015-2019)

As part of the Malawi Tea 2020: Revitalization Programme Towards Living Wages, Imani has been implementing a nutrition programme which aims to fortify the maize flour that is the key ingredient in the mid-day meal at the tea estates in Malawi. The intervention includes facilitating the procurement of the fortification equipment, educating and sensitizing estate workers on the upgraded meal.

 

Action Aid - Legal Literacy Manual for Violence Against Women Related Issues (2014)

To increase public awareness of laws and policies that protect and promote women's rights in Malawi, Action Aid implemented a project which aimed to reduce incidences of gender-based violence against women and girls. Imani was contracted to develop a legal literacy manual which outlines simplified gender-related legal provisions, gender-related rights, court procedures, court processes, and the legal obligations of the different actors within communities, in order to promote access to justice for victimized women and girls.