By Mercy Matonga:
Empower -Me Project, an initiative aimed at supporting women farmers through digital platforms, has been hailed as one with vast potential to improve women’s knowledge of farming.
Empower-Me Project Principal Investigator for the Supriya Garikipati said this in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a Knowledge Exchange Meeting on the project.
She said agriculture remains central to livelihoods across Malawi, with women at the centre of the system.
According to Garikipati, women make an enormous contribution to farm labour, household food security, and community well-being, despite facing several challenges.
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“Across Malawi and much of sub-Saharan Africa, women often produce less than men on comparable plots— not because they are less capable, but because they face unequal access to land, inputs, markets, information, and decision-making power,” Garikipati said.
She said digital tools hold great promise, as they can tailor advice and potentially connect farmers not only to agronomic information but also to markets, services, and finance.
Garikipati further noted that the Empower- Me Project, currently being implemented in Mzimba and Mchinji, has been developed using an approach that goes beyond digital provision to include informed technology choices.
Meanwhile, National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi Chief Executive Officer Betty Chinyamunyamu, whose organisation is one of the implementing partners, said the project represents exactly the kind of collaborative, evidence-based, and gender – responsive initiative that Malawi urgently needs.
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“This project is not just about introducing new technologies. It is about ensuring that those technologies are designed with women in mind— tools that reflect their realities, fit within their daily responsibilities, and are accessible even to those who have historically been excluded from digital innovation,” she said.
System Agronomist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, John Omondi, said the system will help remove barriers to accessing agricultural information.
“As you can see, farmers will be able to access information related to their farming activities remotely, as extension workers cannot always be physically present. The system is also user-friendly for all farmers, regardless of their level of education,” Omondi said.
The Empower-Me Project will, among other benefits, enable farmers to access information on soil nutrients and the types of fertiliser suitable for their crops.
