Foundation for Community Livelihood and Development

Improving the nutrition, health and education of children from female-headed households across 30 villages in Malawi.

Malawi has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world with 7.2% of the 20 million strong populace infected. In the southern region of the country, near the commercial hub of Blantyre, the situation is worse with close to one in ten people infected. Poverty exacerbates the problem, pushing young girls into early marriages or transactional sex to support their families.

In their Egmont-supported project, Foundation for Community Livelihood and Development (FOCOLD) is working with 150 female-headed households and 500 children affected or infected by HIV living in 30 rural villages around Blantyre. They aim to enhance their food security and income generating potential and increase access to education for the children.

As part of the project, household heads are being given crops, seeds and fruit trees to plant and are participating in farming training to enhance their yields. They are also learning post-harvest techniques as well as beekeeping and honey production to improve their income. Diverse nutrition will benefit HIV+ family members and help children to concentrate in school.

Household heads are also accessing group savings facilities and loans through local Women's Business Hubs where they are also undertaking training in business management and entrepreneurship. Using loans from a revolving fund, they can set up small businesses, enabling them to provide their families with food, essentials, school fees and learning materials.

To further bolster the attendance and retention of pre-school children attending early years classes, the project is supporting community based childcare centres to establish community gardens growing crops to make porridge for children.

Through these interventions, FOCOLD aims to address both the drivers of HIV infection and improve the lives of those impacted by AIDS.