From struggle to stability: How a farmer's cooperative helped Eunice Gondwe rebuild her life
In the rolling fields of Mzimba District in northern Malawi, 60-year-old Eunice Gondwe walks through her two acres of soybean crops with renewed hope.
Malawi - For the widowed mother of four, farming is no longer just a means of survival. It is helping her rebuild a future that once seemed out of reach.
When Eunice's husband passed away in 2013 after a year-long illness, life changed dramatically. The family had spent all their earnings on medical expenses, leaving little behind to sustain the household.
"As a family, we used to grow soybeans, maize, and groundnuts," Eunice recalls. "But even when we harvested enough, finding a reliable market was always a challenge."
After her husband's death, the burden of caring for four children fell entirely on her shoulders. Limited income meant difficult choices. One by one, three of her children dropped out of school because she could no longer afford to support their education. For years, Eunice struggled to provide food, clothing, and school necessities while trying to make a living from farming.
In 2023, Eunice joined the Chindindindi farmers' cooperative in Mzimba that brings together smallholder farmers to improve production, access markets, and strengthen livelihoods.
The cooperative, which now has 210 members, including 120 women, has transformed farming from an individual struggle into a collective enterprise. Through the group, members have access to training, village savings and loans (VSL), modern farming techniques, and most importantly, a reliable market for their produce.
For Eunice, this support came at the right time.
Through the cooperative, she gained access to a ready market secured collectively by members. Instead of spending weeks or months searching for buyers, she can now sell her produce quickly at competitive prices. "The biggest change for me has been knowing that there is a market for what I produce," she says. "I can sell faster and earn income when I need it."
Eunice also joined the cooperative's Village Savings and Loans (VSL) activities, giving her access to savings and financial support that were previously unavailable.
The cooperative has benefited from support provided through United Nations Global Accelerator joint programme "Accelerating Employment Creation and Social Protection through Integrated Agriculture Value Chain Development," implemented by UN Women, International Labour Organisation (ILO), and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Through this UN joint initiative, Farmer Cooperatives and Organizations across Mzimba, Dowa and Mzuzu have received training in climate-smart agriculture, Fish farming, conservation agriculture, agroforestry, value addition, market surveys, household visioning, and gender-responsive agribusiness practices. These interventions have helped farmers improve productivity while strengthening household decision-making and resilience.
Today, Eunice's circumstances are beginning to change.
The income she earns from soybean farming has enabled her to keep her youngest child in school. Recently, the child sat for the Junior Certificate of Education examinations, a milestone that fills Eunice with pride.
"I hope to see my youngest child complete school," she says. "I don't want him to face the same challenges as his older siblings, who had to stop their education because I couldn't afford the costs."
For Eunice, education represents opportunity, dignity, and the possibility of breaking the cycle of poverty. Her story reflects the broader transformation taking place within the cooperative. In recent years, members have used earnings from farming to build modern homes, purchase livestock and farming equipment, start transport businesses, and invest in agricultural inputs. The cooperative has also increased soybean production significantly through climate-smart farming practices and improved market access.
But for Eunice, the greatest achievement is much simpler.
It is knowing that her family's future looks brighter than it did a few years ago.
Eunice's journey demonstrates the power of collective action, market access, and targeted support for rural women farmers. The UN joint programme is contributing to stronger livelihoods, improved food security, and greater opportunities for future generations by helping women overcome barriers to productive agriculture and secure sustainable incomes.
For Eunice, every bag of soybeans harvested is more than a crop. It is a step toward stability, independence, and the dream of seeing her child succeed where circumstances once stood in the way.
This was first published on the UN Malawi website.