The Seed for Life. Feed for Life SCIO was formed in 2018 and has four key projects based in the Community of Bemvu, Ntcheu Province in Malawi.
(i) Farming Programme - a project to achieve long term sustainability.
Seed for Life sends funds to Malawi to purchase hybrid seed and fertiliser for farmers selected by their own community who prepare the ground, sow and care for the growing crop. At harvest time part of their yield is given back to the Management Committee in Malawi who use part of this loan repayment to feed the primary school children (A separate project stream) and the other part is sold when the price is at its height and the money received is used to purchase seed and fertiliser the following season. The farmers keep the balance of their harvest in order to feed their families and sell any surplus in order to get a better standard of living. Over time it is intended that the farmers will become self sufficient by generating enough funds from the sale of crop to purchase all inputs each year. All monies raised in the UK go direct to the Management Committee in Bemvu who have to provide accounts for their expenditure on a monthly basis. As part of this programme we also supply Fruit trees in order to supplement the diet and indigenous trees which are required for fuel.
(ii) Primary School Feeding Programme
Seed for Life are committed to feeding the Primary School Children, one meal a day through term time - if they didn`t receive this extra meal many of the children would only have one small meal a day especially in the lean months January through to March. The food that we prepare comes out of the Farming Programme and the meals prepared by a dedicated team of ladies who use the wages they receive as a much needed boost to their family budgets. When we started the programme the school roll stood at 1200 - it now stands at 1400 pupils due to the attraction of being fed which also means more children are being educated .
(iii) Scholarship Programme - Education should be a right!
Secondary School education has to be paid for in Malawi and as the majority of the population are subsistence farmers many parents cannot afford Secondary School Education for their children which means that the children just join the cycle that their parents are in - scraping a meagre living from the land. Seed for Life is currently committed to supporting 25 pupils through their Secondary School Education (Hoping to increase this to 30 in the coming year - very much dependant on fund raising activity) This is gifted to the school.
(iv) Harvest Fund
This provides funds to the old and infirm who receive assistance with fertiliser and soya seed .