Looking at the endline data for Pathways Malawi might be disheartening if you didn’t know the whole story. Production numbers for women farmers showed no statistically significant increase. Does that mean we failed? No. Other farmers in the same district saw their production drop by up to 50%. Staying constant is actually a huge win.
El Niño in Southern Africa has put more than 40 million people at risk of hunger and malnutrition, and the women in Pathways Malawi are not on that list. Instead, they’re using a combination of better agricultural techniques, savings, access to markets, and diversifying their income to make sure that their families can weather this crisis.
More importantly, the women are standing up for themselves, and getting involved in the decisions that protect their families. It’s an impressive accomplishment, for those women, and for the program.
What did we accomplish?
- Increased income: Household income went up 76%, from $11.40 a month to $20.08. Households were also able to spend 38% more every month. Women’s income from agriculture improved 53%.
- Better diets: Dietary diversity went up 13%, so families are able to have more balanced diets every day. Women also got more balanced diets—seeing an increase of 9%.
- More resilience to climate change: Families are 31% more likely to be using savings to deal with shocks—which is incredibly important in the face of the massive El Niño drought they are having. They are also 2.6 times more likely to be using drought-tolerant crops.
- Climate-resilient crop production: In a year where crop production has dropped between 35 and 50% across the districts where Pathways operates due to the drought, Pathways families have seen their production hold steady. In non-drought years, they saw impressive production increases
- More household assets: Families own twice as many assets as before, which can help cushion in emergencies. Land ownership was particularly important—it more than doubled from 2 acres at baseline to 4.3 at endline. The number of women who could control land went up 16%
- More diverse livelihoods: The number of families who diversify their livelihoods as a way to protect against potential shocks went up 23%.
- More empowered women: The number of women who were empowered according to CARE’s Women’s Empowerment Index went up 38%, and the average empowerment score increased by 10%. Women are 28% more able to control income than they were before Pathways.
How did we get there?
- Put women in charge: The number of women in leadership roles went up 36%, and women feel much more comfortable speaking up for their rights.
- Get women access to tools and information: Women’s access to financial services went up 21%, and their access to agricultural inputs increased by 10%. The number of women using improved seeds (drought tolerant or higher yield) nearly doubled. All of the focus groups mentioned that improved access to information was one of the most important benefits they received.
- Focus on extension services: Women’s access to extension services nearly tripled, from 29% at baseline to 82% at the end of the project. Women who were not a part of the project consistently reported that even though Pathways didn’t target them, they also benefitted from increased access to services and information.
- Teach good agricultural practices: Women’s use of improved agricultural practices went up 49%, with especially big jumps in improved seeds and post-harvest practices that mean they lose less food. There was a 65% increase in women producing their own organic fertilizer so that they could improve their practices without spending more money.
- Help women access markets: Women’s access to markets so they could sell their crops for higher prices went up 50%, and 63% of women could access markets by the end of the project.
Want to learn more?
Check out www.care.org/pathways.