Africa-Press – Malawi. Over 4,200 members of Comsip Cooperatives across Malawi have each received K520,000 in seed capital to expand their businesses and enhance their livelihoods.
In total, K2.1 billion has been disbursed.
The funds are being disbursed in two tranches; an initial payment of K364,000 followed by K156,000 after three months, subject to assessment.
This marks the third cohort of beneficiaries under the Graduation Intervention Programme, which is implemented by Comsip Cooperative Union Limited.
The initiative is aimed at improving food security, economic resilience, nutrition, health and housing for ultra-poor households, helping them transition from extreme poverty to sustainable livelihoods.
Speaking during the disbursement of funds to 53 members of Chikowa Cooperative in Chiradzulu District on Thursday, Comsip Graduation specialist Justin Mbingwa said the union was rolling out the seed capital under the Graduation Pilot Intervention—a key sub-component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP).
“Comsip is implementing a subcomponent known as Livelihood Support, which consists of three main packages; the Basic Package, the Enhanced Live Root Package and the Graduation Package. Today, we are disbursing funds to beneficiaries under the Graduation Package,” Mbingwa said.
He said the goal was for beneficiaries to use the seed capital to grow their businesses, earn sustainable incomes and improve their quality of life.
One such beneficiary is Mary Chiwala from Ngolanga Village, Traditional Authority Chikowa, in Chiradzulu District.
A member of Chikowa Comsip Cooperative, Chiwala received K364,000 as her first installment of seed capital.
The 36-year-old, said since joining Comsip in 2021, her life transformed from struggling to provide three meals a day for her household of three children to becoming a successful businesswoman running a tailoring business.
“Through Comsip, I was trained in business and financial literacy and acquired tailoring skills. I received a sewing machine and now earn between K250,000 and K275,000 per month. I can now meet my family’s basic needs,” she said.
Comsip Cooperative Union is implementing the Livelihood Support Programme, a core sub-component of the SSRLP, under the pillar of Improving Social and Economic Inclusion, with support from World Bank, and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
The programme provides economic inclusion packages to selected households under the Social Cash Transfer Programme and the CSEPWP across all SSRLP-supported districts, and targets to reach 590,000 households participating in savings and loan groups.
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