Migration and Society (MASO) successfully held a Youth Empowerment Training on Financial Literacy and Sustainable Farming for youth in Mzimba District. The training, which took place on 13 August 2025, brought together over 60 young people from communities in migration-affected areas of northern Malawi.

Training Objectives

The training had two primary objectives: first, to equip young people with foundational financial literacy skills including budgeting, saving, and understanding the basics of agri-business; and second, to introduce participants to sustainable and low-cost farming techniques that reduce dependence on expensive chemical fertilisers.

Participants were trained on the production of Mbeya Fertiliser and compost manure — practical, affordable alternatives to imported chemical fertilisers that have become increasingly inaccessible to smallholder farmers due to rising prices.

Community Impact

The training is part of MASO's broader economic empowerment programme targeting youth in communities where labour migration to South Africa and Tanzania is prevalent. By building local economic resilience, MASO aims to reduce the conditions that push young people into risky migration decisions.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. Many expressed that the financial literacy component in particular had given them new tools to plan their income and savings — something they had never formally learned before.

MASO plans to conduct follow-up visits to assess how participants are applying the skills learned, and to provide additional mentorship support to those who have started their own small farming enterprises.

For more information about MASO's Youth Empowerment programmes, contact executivedirector@masomw.org.