The Mwandama Producers and Marketing Cooperative Union is a community based cooperative in Mwandama, T/A Mlumbe in Zomba. MWANDAMAMA COOPERATIVE has 8 primary cooperatives.
Mwandama Cooperatives grows Soya beans, Maize and Pigeon peas. Mwandama is therefore seeking a grant to initiate value adding processing and farming equipment to increase crop production and initiate climate smart practices on member farms and entire community.

Through education, the positive results of this initiative will address the critical social and economic problems associated with low family farm income, and begin to address the positive influence agriculture can have on climate change. The funding of this request will enable over 500 members of the cooperative including the youth to uplift their lives both economically and.

The union will employ qualified professionals to carry out value addition processes, educational programs in crop science and environmental stewardship. The program will also make sure that the Union meet the demand from its customers and increase the capital base of its primary cooperatives and the youth in the community and contribute to sustainable development goals.

The eight primary cooperatives are located in seven communities within the Mwandama area of T/A Mlumbe, Zomba Malawi. These primary cooperatives are; Chikasamaganga, Nachikwangwala, Mswaswa, Dindi, Msamba, Nambande, Makoka and Mayera. All of the cooperatives are categorized as Producer and Marketing Cooperatives and their principle activity is grain and legume production and trading.

One cooperative also has a poultry business, and another has specialized in producing horticultural products, namely sweet potato seedlings through irrigation. Initial makeup of the local cooperatives was generally 30% men and 70% women. This ratio is still true. There is a greater potential for grain and legume production in the area and beyond, but the local cooperatives continue to be unable to fully capitalize on this opportunity because of inadequate working capital since they still use hoes as their main means of farming, as well as business management and production knowledge.

The grains and legumes are sold low. These cooperatives also experienced low capital base as well as inadequate business management skills, which have limited their further business development