Resurrecting Shuttered Dreams
The story of Pitilizani, a youth farmer
Most of the youth in Malawi are jobless or either they are uneducated and due to this most of them just stay and do nothing. This WAS the case with Pitilizani Jastoni one of the youth in Makoza village.
Pitilizani Jastoni is a 22 year-old single farmer, who is part of the Mango Irrigation Club from Ndalama village under Chigonthi EPA. He is one of the youngest farmers from this club. He started farming in 2019 and joined AWP program in the same year but he was not active because he felt he was young and people from the club would not take him seriously because of his age. Pitilizani fully joined the club in 2021.
Irrigation farming has been life changing for him. He did not go far with his education and his dreams of advancing in education died because his parents could not afford to pay his school fees. When he heard about what Africa Windmill Project is doing he got interested and joined the club even though he was young. What caught his attention is how people were benefiting from irrigation farming and the Agriculture Fair which AWP did during the year 2019.
From the trainings conducted by AWP he learnt how to use rope and washer pumps, he also learnt how to make basins as well as how to make canals. These trainings have changed his irrigation farming technique, he now uses what he learnt because back then he practiced irrigation farming without proper knowledge which resulted to him having low harvest and making a loss from the money he invested. He plants various crops in his garden, like peas, leaf vegetables and maize, but currently he has planted maize.
He uses a rope and washer pump to irrigate his crops. Previously he used to spend long hours watering with a bucket and used it every day but now with the rope and washer pump he is able to water his crops only twice a week; this helps him to save time.
With irrigation farming he has been able to buy a bicycle and pigs; he is able to do all these things by farming all year long. His plot is 1 acre and he has currently planted maize which he has currently invested MK16, 000.00 ($21) and is expecting a profit of K60, 000.00 ($77). Once he has harvested this season he wants to buy a plot for himself where he can build his dream house and he is also planning on going back to school now that he is able to provide for himself using irrigation farming.
Africa Windmill Project is an organization that is still bringing back lost hope to the farmers here in Malawi. It aims at ending hunger with the innovation of rope and washer pumps as well as windmills which are distributed to the farmers. With your donations, all this is possible.
