Our history
The origins of Tiyeni extend back to the 1990s, and we’ve come quite a ways during that time! Read on to explore our journey and growth.
The seeds of Tiyeni
The seeds of Tiyeni were sown during years of poor harvests from the mid- to late-1990s, when Malawi’s maize production fell far below the ~2m tonnes required to feed the population. John Crossley, who had been a UK Assistant District Commissioner in several districts in Malawi, and his wife Elizabeth, then Education Adviser, recalled the famine years:
People were reduced to digging up banana trees and cooking their roots, roaming the country picking up banana skins to eat, or working until they dropped in other people’s fields in return for a handful of flour. People were dying. Enquiring at village level for the cause of the crisis, we learned that, ‘the land has lost its fertility.’
A primary cause of these low crops yields was a compacted layer of soil known as the “hardpan”, which prevents roots, water, and air from penetrating into the soil. Another major factor that causes an ongoing threat is climate change. Learn more about these issues by clicking the buttons below.
|
|
However, rather than addressing the soil compaction issue, the government’s official response to the famine was the Targeted Input Programme, which helped struggling small farmers buy seeds and fertiliser at subsidised low prices. Agricultural output recovered somewhat as the rains improved, but remained poor overall.
In November 2002, John Crossley met Francis Shaxson, an agronomist whose research and publication with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Malawi Soil Fertility Initiative had highlighted Malawi’s soil compaction issue. Shaxson had gone to Malawi to run a training workshop for the NGO Harvest Help. Crossley was involved in a centre caring for orphans in Doroba, and described to Shaxson the problem of raising food for orphans from a piece of worn out land. They stood together in a field during a rainstorm and as they watched the soil run off in large quantities. Shaxson explained to Crossley that the underlying cause of this runoff was the compacted soil hardpan, and the two discussed using a simple pickaxe to break up this hardpan.
Following this discussion, Shaxson made a sketch to show how a field cultivated using conventional ridge farming could be converted to a form of cultivation based utilising “deep beds” of soil. These sketches would later form the core of Tiyeni’s Deep Bed Farming approach.
In November 2002, John Crossley met Francis Shaxson, an agronomist whose research and publication with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Malawi Soil Fertility Initiative had highlighted Malawi’s soil compaction issue. Shaxson had gone to Malawi to run a training workshop for the NGO Harvest Help. Crossley was involved in a centre caring for orphans in Doroba, and described to Shaxson the problem of raising food for orphans from a piece of worn out land. They stood together in a field during a rainstorm and as they watched the soil run off in large quantities. Shaxson explained to Crossley that the underlying cause of this runoff was the compacted soil hardpan, and the two discussed using a simple pickaxe to break up this hardpan.
Following this discussion, Shaxson made a sketch to show how a field cultivated using conventional ridge farming could be converted to a form of cultivation based utilising “deep beds” of soil. These sketches would later form the core of Tiyeni’s Deep Bed Farming approach.
Crucially, these beds would be widened, with two of the ridges used in conventional ridge farming joined to make a single bed. Joining the ridges into one bed would create a larger cultivated area where nobody would tread again. This step to eliminate footfall would prevent soil re-compaction and allow healthy soils and the microorganisms living within to remain in place.
#Meanwhile, Shaxson’s training workshop had caught the attention of a smallholder farmer and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Ngulube from Samuel Mabaso village in Mzimba district, northern Malawi. They tried some of the recommendations in an area surrounded by woodland “so that, in case it didn’t work, their village neighbours were less likely to see it.” Mr. and Mrs. Ngulube were astonished and delighted that their next maize crop grew ten feet high, as the picture shows.
Crossley also put these simple ideas into practice, including intensive decompaction. The results, again, were dramatic. The jubilant message came back after an excellent harvest: “It works!”
Initially Tiyeni worked indirectly through a local NGO, Model Institute of Democracy for the Youth (MIDY), run by a dynamic Malawian named Patrick Nzima, which helped with outreach. Around this time Deep Bed Farming was introduced to an all-women’s group at Doroba, led by Mrs. M’bano Mkandawire, a strong leader with deep understanding not just of plants and agriculture, but also of local communities. Crossley recounted:
Crossley also put these simple ideas into practice, including intensive decompaction. The results, again, were dramatic. The jubilant message came back after an excellent harvest: “It works!”
Initially Tiyeni worked indirectly through a local NGO, Model Institute of Democracy for the Youth (MIDY), run by a dynamic Malawian named Patrick Nzima, which helped with outreach. Around this time Deep Bed Farming was introduced to an all-women’s group at Doroba, led by Mrs. M’bano Mkandawire, a strong leader with deep understanding not just of plants and agriculture, but also of local communities. Crossley recounted:
Leadership was necessary. For a group of women to be asked to forsake their accustomed method of farming and wield a pickaxe where the hoe had always been the tool of choice was a stiff demand. No one in the village possessed one. Pickaxes were for men working on the roads.
But restoring the soil required more than just breaking the hardpan. A laboratory analysis of a sample of the soil taken from the Doroba garden in March 2005 showed that the soil was too acidic and too depleted in vital nutrients for adequate crop growth. In response to the laboratory findings, all organic material available was used to mulch the beds to improve the soil’s organic content and nutrient levels. For the first four years, only legumes were planted to repair damage caused by years of growing only one crop, maize, a process known as monocropping that depletes soil of vital nutrients.
Crossley continued:
Crossley continued:
Gradually the soil began to improve. Memorable occasions were when one of the women pointed out, ‘look, the weeds are growing bigger!’ and again, after a night of heavy rainfall I visited the garden and was called to be shown the high watermark where the rainwater had been retained in the furrow between the beds and told with surprise that all the water had sunk into the ground. Previously, on a night like that, water would have been gushing off the land carrying soil, as it went.
The relationship with MIDY ended in 2007. However, two more communities saw what was happening in the villages where people were adopting Deep Bed Farming. Two more centres were set up, both under the leadership of women: the elderly Hilda Mughogho of Susa Village, and Bridget Mkandawire of Msongwe Village.
This was the humble birth and beginning of Tiyeni and our mission to end food poverty and to improve water security for smallholder farmers across Malawi. Momentum soon started to build, leading to the growth of our organisation.
This was the humble birth and beginning of Tiyeni and our mission to end food poverty and to improve water security for smallholder farmers across Malawi. Momentum soon started to build, leading to the growth of our organisation.
Our expansion: A timeline
Despite the good results, progress was still slow. By the early-to-mid 2010s Tiyeni was still operating on a turnover of just £5,000 per year and had not yet expanded beyond the four villages where it had taken off. However, things soon began to gain traction.
