Mponela Aids Information and Counselling Centre has handed over a K22.5 million grain mill to communities at Phwetekere in Traditional Authority Mponela in Dowa District to run as a business.

In an interview on Monday, the non-governmental organisation’s (NGO) advocacy and programmes manager George Kaunda said they wanted to empower communities to generate money.

“We feel the mill will help beneficiaries generate money to pay school fees for their children and buy basic necessities for their families,” he said.

Kaunda said the mill will also help women from the surrounding communities to have their maize processed into flour within easy reach.

The building that houses the grain mill

Traditional Authority Mponela described the initiative as effective in alleviating poverty among rural communities.

“The initiative will empower my subjects economically, thereby contributing towards achieving Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development strategy,” he said.

The chief thanked the organisation for the gesture and pledged to support the initiative to achieve its goals.

The initiative’s chairperson Auswald Mapulanga said it was a step towards sustainable and inclusive development.

“We will work with community members to achieve the project’s goals,” he said.

A community member, Jessie Kalirani said the coming in of the maize mill in the area will enable women to access milling services nearby.

“We used to travel long distances to the maize mill. Now we can even send children to the maize mill without getting worried about the distance,” she said.

Phillip Morris International, one of the biggest Malawi tobacco buyers, financed the project.

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