Christian Aid Week 2023

Caption: Esther Saizi and her cooperative make bread from processed pigeon peas. They meet every morning in the warehouse Christian Aid has built and use the large oven to bake bread to sell at the market. 

Credit: Christian Aid/Adam Haggerty 

Christian Aid supporters are gearing up for a week of focussed action and prayer - and this year will be supporting families in Malawi, who are paying a harsh price for the global cost of living and climate crises. 

All kinds of events will be taking place, from May 14-20, to raise money and make a difference to families and communities in places where severe weather has ruined crops and middlemen have taken hard-earned profits from those trying to farm the land. Farmers in Malawi struggle to get a fair price for their goods and have been battling climate change, with rising temperatures and regular floods making it tough to grow crops.  

One of these farmers is Esther Saizi. The 54-year-old grandmother grows pigeon peas, which she uses to bake bread and also sells, using some of the profits to help her daughters with nursing training and a carpentry business, as well as paying for grandchildren to attend nursery. 

Esther has struggled to get a fair price for her produce and lost a lot of her crops during Tropical Storm Ana. She felt desperate. But when she joined a pigeon pea programme run by Christian Aid partner Nandolo Farmers’ Association, and started selling as part of a co-operative, she was able to earn much more. 

With the profits, Esther bought goats which also provide manure for her crops, saving on expensive fertiliser. She now keeps her peas in a  warehouse, safe from floods and storms. She also processes pigeon peas into fish food using the co-operative’s machine, which was provided by Christian Aid. 

“We are a community that helps one another a lot,” Esther says. “If people face a problem, we do not allow them to suffer alone.” 

This is how the money raised during Christian Aid Week can help: 

·        £50 could provide pigeon pea seeds and farming tools for a family.  

·        £70 could buy a bicycle so an experienced farmer can reach others in remote areas and teach them essential business skills.   

·         £250 could pay for a cooperative oven, supporting more than 800 people to turn their pigeon peas into profit by baking bread.  

·        £1,000 could pay for a fish food processor, so co-operatives can turn their pigeon peas into fish food and raise fish to sell.  

 Support for Christian Aid Week has never been more vital following the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy which struck the southern part of the country during the growing season. 

But Christian Aid believes there is hope and with support, farmers are looking to bounce back using the most resilient crop, pigeon peas, and winter crop planting where possible.  

Christian Aid works in some of the world's poorest communities. We act where there is great need, regardless of religion, supporting people to live a full life, free from poverty. For more about Christian Aid’s work, visit www.christianaid.org.uk