Malawi Fruits
Tue, Sep 5th 2017 at 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
A presentation by Kevin Smith
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President Dallas welcomed 31 members and 3 guests.
It was reported that several members had attended the opening ceremony of the Queensferry Crossing and were very impressed with the organisation of this event.
Some had also taken part in the various organised walks across the bridge.
After business, Dallas introduced the speaker for today, Kevin Simpson, whose subject was Malawi Fruits.
Kevin is a native of Broughty Ferry who first visited Malawi in 2008. With two friends he founded Malawi Fruits in 2011 and travels there twice yearly to supervise projects.
Even his family has got involved, with his daughter, Linda, doing part of her elective there and son Craig, who is a geography teacher, led a team from his school on a work trip last year.
Malawi Fruits is a young Scottish charity working with some of the poorest smallholder farmers to support them to increase their household incomes and so provide basic necessities for their families.
It is necessary to work around the climate which is wet from December to April and completely dry the rest of the year. Things grow well during the wet season but irrigation is needed when it dries up.
The population has risen from 13 million to 17 million in 10 years and half is made up of children under 15 years. This population expansion has been aided by investment from Rotary Clubs which has led to improvements in sanitation and water supplies.
There are health challenges however, the main ones being HIV, malaria and respiratory disease (damp and poor housing).
There is little industry apart from farming smallholdings by families who grow their own food and hope to sell any surplus for money in a good year. In a bad year there can be financial ruin and food shortages. The staple crop is maize.
Kevin's charity has encouraged diversity towards cash crops such as paprika which, in addition to being a pepper, is sought after as a food colouring and used in cosmetics.
Cash earned from sales at market can be deployed to improve housing, medical care and ensure children can visit school. It has also enabled improvements to irrigation schemes such as installation of solar powered pumps. Some Rotary Clubs have also paid for these.
If cash crops such as peanuts and sunflowers can be processed, this increases their value as oil for cooking. This requires the installation and operation of the relevant machinery. As more cash is released this can be ploughed back to keep improvements going.
Malawi is one of the smaller African countries but Lake Malawi alone is the size of England. The land is very fertile around the lake and for a good distance beyond. There is great potential for these farmers and their families with the continued involvement of charities like Malawi Fruits.
After this very interesting talk, Ken Stahly gave a vote of thanks.
The meeting ended at 2pm.
It was reported that several members had attended the opening ceremony of the Queensferry Crossing and were very impressed with the organisation of this event.
Some had also taken part in the various organised walks across the bridge.
After business, Dallas introduced the speaker for today, Kevin Simpson, whose subject was Malawi Fruits.
Kevin is a native of Broughty Ferry who first visited Malawi in 2008. With two friends he founded Malawi Fruits in 2011 and travels there twice yearly to supervise projects.
Even his family has got involved, with his daughter, Linda, doing part of her elective there and son Craig, who is a geography teacher, led a team from his school on a work trip last year.
Malawi Fruits is a young Scottish charity working with some of the poorest smallholder farmers to support them to increase their household incomes and so provide basic necessities for their families.
It is necessary to work around the climate which is wet from December to April and completely dry the rest of the year. Things grow well during the wet season but irrigation is needed when it dries up.
The population has risen from 13 million to 17 million in 10 years and half is made up of children under 15 years. This population expansion has been aided by investment from Rotary Clubs which has led to improvements in sanitation and water supplies.
There are health challenges however, the main ones being HIV, malaria and respiratory disease (damp and poor housing).
There is little industry apart from farming smallholdings by families who grow their own food and hope to sell any surplus for money in a good year. In a bad year there can be financial ruin and food shortages. The staple crop is maize.
Kevin's charity has encouraged diversity towards cash crops such as paprika which, in addition to being a pepper, is sought after as a food colouring and used in cosmetics.
Cash earned from sales at market can be deployed to improve housing, medical care and ensure children can visit school. It has also enabled improvements to irrigation schemes such as installation of solar powered pumps. Some Rotary Clubs have also paid for these.
If cash crops such as peanuts and sunflowers can be processed, this increases their value as oil for cooking. This requires the installation and operation of the relevant machinery. As more cash is released this can be ploughed back to keep improvements going.
Malawi is one of the smaller African countries but Lake Malawi alone is the size of England. The land is very fertile around the lake and for a good distance beyond. There is great potential for these farmers and their families with the continued involvement of charities like Malawi Fruits.
After this very interesting talk, Ken Stahly gave a vote of thanks.
The meeting ended at 2pm.
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