AWAB members sign a 10,000 metric tonne deal at Trade and Investment Forum
26th to 27th July, 2018, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
The African Women in Agribusiness (AWAB) network members from Malawi traveled to Tanzania to participate in a Tanzania-Malawi Trade and Investment Forum that was held on 26th to 27th July, 2018 in Dar-es-Salaam. While there, the AWAB Malawi team met the Vice President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, and had the chance to explore various opportunities for demand for produce from the Africa Food Basket initiative in Malawi. The team signed a deal to supply 10,000 metric tonnes of soya to a Tanzania based Chinese company that will process them into oil. Currently, AWAB Malawi registered with ten seed companies that participated in the African Food Basket Pilot Project. The ten companies worked with 767 farmers in the 2017/18 farming season to produce 588 metric tones of soya beans, cow peas and common beans. AWAB has proudly identified markets and various distribution channels through which its members will trade their produce from this current farming season.
Partnering with the African Women Development Fund on an exciting project
We have partnered with the African Women Development Fund (AWDF) on a project to increase Access to Markets for Women in Agribusiness in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. Building on the successes of the Women Creating Wealth and African Food Basket initiatives, the project will work with women in agribusiness to develop market access opportunities for their farm products and improve manufacturing practices to support effective and value added agro-processing.
Meanwhile, the Trust is rolling out a Women in Trade Programme in partnership with United Parcel Services (UPS). For the programmeâs first initiative in this year, a West Africa Stakeholder meeting will take place in Senegal and will bring together Cross Border Trader institutions and key players in West Africa to establish association that will continue to work with NFNV-NIGERIA to drive policy changes and capacity building initiatives to advance women in cross border trade.
Strengthening the governance and leadership structures of our networks
The Trustâs networks have begun a two-year network strengthening project supported by the Ford Foundation that aims to strengthen our networks in six countries namely; Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The project focuses on supporting the formalisation of unregistered networks in the countries as well as strengthening governance, leadership and operational management of the networks. The Trustâs networks in the six countries have been working together and have undergone capacity building processes that strengthen their fundraising mechanisms through joint fundraising strategies and developing proposals for individual and joint programme activities.
Read more on our Women’s Economic and Social Advancement programme
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.