USAID / RCSA - Success Stories

Lilongwe is a small city of 400,000 people that is both the capital of Malawi and an agriculture service center. National policies supportive of private enterprise development and an effectively executed USAID project are beginning to change the economic prospects of the region by stimulating the emergence of entrepreneurial traders.

The USAID-funded Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (SARRNET), based in Malawi, is applying modern research to develop improved varieties of sweet potatoes and cassava with superior traits for resisting disease, withstanding drought, and gaining consumer acceptability. Farmers in Malawi are increasingly adopting these improved crop technologies.

Mr. Liston was an ordinary trader who did not think of himself as entrepreneurial. In the context of Malawi he has been more favored by fortune than most. He completed grammar school and owns an old but serviceable Land Rover. His 1999 income of approximately US$1,000 per year is modest by the standards of the developed world but well above the earnings of the average Malawian which is roughly US$350. Mr. Liston's business life centers on an area called "number 25 rank," a gathering place of buses, small traders, day laborers and their customers. On a typical day a thousand persons may pass through the rank. Prior to the emergence of the new varieties of cassava and sweet potatoes, Mr. Liston traded small amounts of maize and hired out his Land Rover to other traders. He didn't make much money and keeping his Land Rover in working condition was often the only expense he could afford.

Mr. Liston is a "lifestyle entrepreneur" whose main objectives are to take better care of his family and enjoy life a little more himself. Astute observation is the basis of his feasibility plan; chatting with consumers is his market research; and constant vigilance is his management control system. His strategy is confined to linking a growing source of supply with an emerging demand for the commodity. He has never heard of niche marketing but he recognized the sound of opportunity knocking. Most critically, he acted.

Mr. Liston observed that more and more customers at number 25 rank were asking for cassava and sweet potatoes. In his forays to the countryside to buy maize he also noticed that more farmers were growing cassava and sweet potatoes and were standardizing on the same varieties, making it possible to deliver consistent quantities of acceptable product to customers. He slowly added cassava and sweet potatoes to his standard loads of maize. However, as both the supply and demand of cassava and sweet potatoes increased, Mr. Liston sensed that specialization in these crops would give him a steady market, decrease competition from other traders, and increase profits. It would also reduce his costs because these crops were available closer to Lilongwe than was maize. Because the cassava season extends from September to April and the sweet potato season from April to August, the two crops combined provided a year-round source of income.

Today Mr. Liston is one of eleven traders delivering a daily load of 1.5 metric tons of cassava to number 25 rank. Business is good. Mr. Liston has added a driver and two assistants to the trading operation, and at the farm level he employs six men and four women on a seasonal basis. The farm workers seek out reliable farmers as suppliers, sort the commodity, and help with loading. They also act as unofficial extension agents by informing farmers about the most effective cultivation practices.

In the grand scheme of things, trading in improved varieties of cassava and sweet potatoes is not especially innovative. However, thanks to entrepreneurial traders like Mr. Liston, consumers in Lilongwe have a more reliable source of food and nearby farmers have a ready market and enjoy higher prices for their crops. Mr. Liston's workers have doubled their income and he is achieving his difficult if modest goals. He watches his own television and buys his children the books they need for school.

USAID/ RCSA - Success Stories