Malawi: Goats for Needy Families

Subsistence farmers deal in commodities instead of money and the success of their livelihood depends on crops and animals rather than monthly income. A Malawian subsistence farmer with chickens, pigs or goats is guaranteed food for his family as long as the animals continue to produce. Using this idea, ACTION missionaries work alongside local churches to distribute goats to provide assistance to orphans and widows. Participants are selected by local churches and given a female goat and materials to build a shelter. The goat’s first female offspring is given back to the church, which then donates it to another family in need. The funds generated by selling the male offspring are used to sustain the family and provide school fees for children.

Ten year old Davie, one of 7 orphaned siblings living with their grandmother (aged 68), describes the “great challenge” the family has faced. “She cannot send us to school. In order to have food in our home, we must work in the homes of those who have food in their homes. We thank God for the gift of the goats. We will care for them. We shall sell the offspring so that the money should help us to go to school.”

Another recipient lost her parents in a 2009 car crash, when she was just 6. “Now we are staying with our grandmother who is 65 years old,” writes Agnes. “The goats I have received we will care for so that in the near future they will help us buying food and paying school fees. God bless the one who bought for us the goats.”

It costs just $50.00US to provide a goat to a needy family in Malawi.