Doreen Samuel’s “Grow With Us Project”; Climate-Smart Agriculture in Malawi
The Grow With Us Project, a capstone project led by Doreen Samuels, from Malawi is dedicated to promoting, facilitating, and advocating for the widespread adoption of energy-efficient solutions (charcoal briquettes), the use of crystalized human-urine fertilizer, fertilizer multiplier, and educating communities with basic business management skills. The initial goal for the Grow With Us Project (GWUP) is to establish charcoal briquette and fertilizer production for communities in Lilongwe using local agricultural waste materials. This Capstone project is contributing to sustainable agricultural practices, environmental conservation, and energy-efficient solution use, hence aligning with the Africa Climate Leaders Fellowship’s vision of building resilient, community-driven responses to climate justice.
BACKGROUND & JUSTIFICATION
Located in Southeastern Africa, Malawi is a landlocked country, and Lilongwe is located in the central Region of Malawi. Agriculture is a key sector in Lilongwe and is mostly small-scale and rain-fed and thus prone to climatic shocks, which in turn impact agricultural outputs, resulting in price volatility, subsequently impacting Malawi’s agricultural-based economy and its GDP. Therefore, there is a need to build up climate resilience and respond effectively to the cyclones that have damaged vital infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, and roads.
Farmers in Lilongwe are standing at the forefront of the climate crisis, a crisis that is causing increased food insecurity and poverty. Additionally, the fact that the cost of fertilizer has increased rapidly since 2022-2025 has also impacted small-scale farmers. Lilongwe, being the capital city and central Region of Malawi, has the highest population, hence the dependence of its population on solid fuels to cover the energy demand for cooking both in urban and rural areas. This, in turn, leads to unsustainable utilization of biomass that contributes to deforestation and land degradation.
The Grow with us project is training over 3000 small-holder farmers who are youths and women in climate-smart agricultural practices, incorporating the use and production of fertilizer multiplier, crystallized human urine fertilizer on their lands, and also charcoal briquettes for energy use.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Despite the Agriculture sector being the main income source of the economy in Malawi, agricultural productivity in Lilongwe is getting lower each growing season, which is contributing to Malawi’s food insecurity and is affecting the country’s economy. Farmers in Lilongwe rely on chemical fertilizers to improve their crop yield. However, chemical fertilizers are imported, and their dependence has made Malawi susceptible to global market fluctuations, resulting in skyrocketing fertilizer prices well beyond the reach of most small-holder farmers in Lilongwe. The use of chemical fertilizers has led to acidity and degradation of the soil. In addition, the cutting down of trees for energy use has led to deforestation and soil erosion. Lilongwe inhabitants lack knowledge in the production and use of fertilizer multiplier, crystalized human urine fertilizer, and greener charcoal briquettes, which can improve soil fertility, biodiversity, environmental conservation, and food security. They also lack the business management skills, such as business laws and regulations, business model canvas, and financial literacy, which can help boost their businesses, thus improving the country’s economy. Therefore, the Grow with us project aims to bridge the gap by promoting the use and production of fertilizer multiplier and crystalized human urine fertilizer and charcoal briquettes using waste agricultural raw materials in Lilongwe, whilst educating the community members with basic business management skills to improve Malawi’s economy.
OBJECTIVES
1. Educate small-holder farmers about the benefits of using crystalized human urine fertilizer, fertilizer multiplier, and charcoal briquettes.
2. Provide training and demonstrations on the production and proper use of the crystallized human-urine fertilizer multiplier and charcoal briquettes.
3. Facilitate business management skill sessions.
4. Monitor and evaluate the impact of crystalized human-urine fertilizer, fertilizer multiplier on crop yield among small holder farmers.
#AfricanClimateLeadersFellowship #CapstoneProject
Leave a Reply