Every morning, as the first light breaks over the foothills of Mulanje Mountain, Mercy Zingwe begins a familiar journey.
With an aluminium milk can balanced steadily on her head, the 45-year-old widow walks towards Chisitu Milk Bulking Centre, where dozens of farmers converge carrying the fruits of a livelihood that has steadily transformed their lives.
Some arrive on motorcycles, others on bicycles they pedal along the dusty village roads.
One by one, they queue to weigh their milk before pouring it into a cooling tank that preserves its quality until collection by Blantyre Dairy later in the day.
To a casual observer, it is an ordinary morning in rural Mulanje, but for the farmers gathered here, every litre delivered tells a story of new skills, renewed confidence and growing prosperity.
For Zingwe of Kandewu Village in Traditional Authority Chikumbu, dairy farming has become the foundation upon which she is rebuilding her family’s future.
It has not always been that way.
When she received her first dairy cow through the Shire Highlands Milk Producers Association (SHMPA) in 2016, enthusiasm alone was not enough to guarantee success. Like many first-time dairy farmers, she had little practical knowledge of livestock management and struggled to realise the animal’s full potential.
“After receiving proper training, everything changed for the better,” she says with a smile.
“Every month I deliver about 600 litres of milk, earning over K470,000. This is a lot of money to take care of my four children.
“I have managed to build my own house, pay school expenses and buy food without struggling.”
Today, she owns three dairy cows, two of which are currently producing milk, a remarkable turnaround that she attributes not simply to receiving livestock, but to acquiring the knowledge needed to manage them effectively.
Her story reflects a quiet transformation unfolding across Chisitu, where practical skills are proving just as valuable as the dairy cows themselves.
A few kilometres away, 48-year-old Kayoza Tsegula from Waluma Village remembers a time when dairy farming offered little promise for many households.
After receiving two dairy cows under a pass-on arrangement in 2019, he quickly realised that owning livestock and managing a productive dairy enterprise were two very different things.
Without practical knowledge of feeding, animal health and housing, milk production remained low, limiting both household income and the reliability of milk supplies reaching the market.
“The breakthrough came when we started getting training on how we can manage our livestock, specifically in terms of feeding, kraal construction, dipping and other practices that would make our cows healthy, thereby producing more milk,” Tsegula explains.
“The training changed everything. We learnt how to feed the cows properly, maintain clean kraals and keep the animals healthy through regular dipping. When you take care of the cows properly, they reward you with more milk, and now dairy farming has become a dependable business for us.”
The results have indeed been tangible.
His herd has grown from two to four cows, with two currently producing up to 35 litres of milk each day. Every month he supplies about 900 litres, earning more than K700,000.
The income has enabled him to buy a motorcycle, educate his seven children and provide nutritious milk for his family.
For years, Malawi has spent valuable foreign exchange importing products that can be produced locally, including dairy products. While smallholder farmers have long possessed the land, determination and willingness to produce, many lacked the technical skills required to meet the quality and consistency demanded by formal markets.
Recognising that the greatest obstacle was not a shortage of farmers but a shortage of practical skills, the International Labour Organization (ILO), through the Global Skills Programme, introduced competency-based training designed specifically for informal sector producers.
According to the programme’s National Project Coordinator, Patrick Makondesa, research revealed a clear mismatch between the skills possessed by informal producers and those required by industry.
“We conducted a study and found that people in the informal sector did not have the skills mostly required by industry,” Makondesa explains.
The findings brought together the ILO, the Ministry of Labour, the Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA) and industry players to develop simplified training programmes that farmers could easily understand and immediately apply.
“We wanted training that communities could easily understand and immediately apply. The curriculum was designed using practical competencies so that farmers could improve productivity and meet market expectations,” he says.
Rather than train farmers directly from the outset, the programme first equipped agriculture extension workers and veterinary officers through Training of Trainers sessions, supported by the Global Skills Programme with funding from the Government of Norway through NORAD, alongside the Global Accelerator Programme funded through the United Nations.
Those officers now deliver practical lessons within farming communities, helping producers strengthen livestock management and improve productivity.
“We have seen farmers increase milk production and others have actually doubled their output,” Makondesa says.
The impact is perhaps most visible at Chisitu Milk Bulking Group, where Chairperson Andrew Siliya says the cooperative has become a catalyst for economic transformation.
Today, the centre collects about 33,300 litres of milk every month from 280 dairy farmers, including 235 women.
“Our members received intensive practical training and support to improve cattle housing and management in general. The results are clear. Families have higher incomes and children have better nutrition,” Siliya says.
He adds that the benefits extend beyond milk production.
Farmers are using manure to improve crop yields while others have adopted biogas technology, reducing dependence on firewood and creating cleaner sources of household energy.
The group’s ambitions continue to grow.
“If we can acquire processing equipment, we want to begin producing yoghurt, cheese and other dairy products ourselves. That’s our plan for the future,” Siliya says.
Field Livestock Technician Gaven Nkhoma believes the transformation has been driven by one critical ingredient: knowledge.
“The skills were what farmers were missing. Today they understand feeding, breeding, disease control and hygiene. Some are earning up to K800,000 every month because they are applying what they learn,” he says.
Encouraged by the results, Makondesa hopes the initiative can reach many more farming communities across Malawi.
“We are very impressed with the results and hope that the programme will continue. We have trained many agriculture extension workers and agricultural veterinary officers, and we hope the programme can be scaled up to reach many more farmers,” he says.
Back at Chisitu Milk Bulking Centre, the steady stream of milk cans continues long after sunrise.
Each delivery represents far more than fresh milk waiting to be transported to the market. It reflects families investing in better homes, parents keeping children in school, women gaining greater financial independence and rural households discovering that practical skills can unlock opportunities that once seemed beyond reach.
For farmers like Mercy Zingwe, prosperity did not begin with a dairy cow alone.
It began with learning how to turn opportunity into lasting success.