Temwa has run a series of skills training courses for local people which aim to given them the skills they need to find employment. This also makes a positive contribution to lives of their families and communities.

• Bricklaying Course
• Tailoring Course
• Agricultural Training
• Training for PLWHA
• Farmer Training Support
• Youth Enterprise Development Scheme

Since April 2010, Temwa has implemented the next generation of our agricultural training courses. The 'Farmer Training Support' (FTS) project aims to alleviate poverty by improving the income and food security status of vulnerable households through training in sustainable farming methods. These include sustainable agriculture and related practices of field crops and vegetables. The project will also promote pest and disease management and train households in the use of organic manures. This will improve people's income levels through training in farming-based income generating activities, and promote Temwa's demonstration garden as a central place for training.

During the first phase of the project, we have successfully trained 581 vulnerable households (including 61 families affected by HIV & AIDS, 191 female-headed households, and 329 orphan-hosting families). During this training, farmers are equipped with various skills such as:

• Compost manure-making (natural fertilizers)
• Compost manure application rates in the nursery and transplanting beds
• Soil and moisture conservation (soil health concept)
• Intercropping and crop relation
• Ways of making beds that favour different seasons
• Plant spacing during sowing of seeds and transplanting of vegetable seedlings  

We also distribute seeds (including cabbage, onions and tomato) to each of the farmers completing the training.

We have also trained and distributed seeds to fifteen schools and nine community-based organisations (CBOs) in the region in addition to the individuals participating in the project. This project is funded by an anonymous donor.

The 'Youth Enterprise Development Project' aims to help identify and nurture promising entrepreneurial talent among the youth in Nkhata Bay North. The project recruits and trains youth enterprise groups and enables them to apply for government loans as well as from other lending institutions.

To date, with the help of our Enterprise Development Assistant, 16 of our groups (representing over 600 youths) have made successful applications through the scheme, and have been granted £23,270 in the first year of the project. These successful groups will implement various income-generating activities including: pig production, beekeeping, poultry production, carpentry, goat production, cooking oil production, fish farming and fish selling.

This project is generously funded by a grant from CVS.

The very first project undertaken by Temwa was the building of a community centre in Usisya.

During its construction in 2004, a team of bricklayers were trained in conjunction with TEVET – a technical college based in Mzuzu. Afterwards, each member was given a set of tools to help them start their own business. The building is now used for a variety of community meetings and events, by schools, village headmen, churches, youth groups and other NGOs (non-government organisations). It is also a base for running educational courses. The centre is also used as Temwa’s headquarters in Malawi. 

The second training course organised by Temwa and run in the community centre, was a tailoring course. This was also carried out in conjunction with TEVET and resulted in 12 local participants qualifying as tailors. One participant won a scholarship (kindly donated by the trainer himself) to go to a tailoring school in the nearest town.

This project provided people from all over Usisya with the knowledge and skills required to start growing a range of vegetables which can supplement their diet and provide food during the hunger period between harvests.

The people in this area are predominantly fishermen, and they rely heavily on the two staple crops of maize and cassava. However, these crops are not nutritious, nor do they produce goods all year round. As a result, malnutrition is a serious problem here and, in the three month gap between stores depleting and the new harvest, hunger is common among the most vulnerable, the poor and the chronically ill.

The aim of this project was to improve this community's nutritional status and increase their agricultural knowledge. The training course covered the following areas:

• The agricultural skills necessary to grow a variety of vegetables to supplement their traditional diet
• Maintaining soil fertility, seed storage and establishing seed banks
• Basic business skills 
• Education on the value of agriculture, the nutritional importance of vegetables & fruit in a balanced diet

This project concluded with the creation of our 'Farmer Training Support' project.

Temwa proposes to provide HIV sufferers and their families with training that will give them the skills needed to grow their own crops, thus allowing them to improve their diets and to stay healthy. HIV positive people are more vulnerable to illness as a result of their weakened immune systems.

In Nkhata Bay North they are at increased risk due to the poor diet and lack of access to the vegetables needed for a nutritious diet that will boost their immune systems and help them to stay healthy.

To improve the health of HIV sufferers in the area, this project will provide 27 participants with horticultural training. It will also establish 10 gardens that grow produce for the participants one month after the course finishes and it will record the significant increase in the amount of vegetables in their diets, three months after the course finishes.

This project was merged with our 'Farmer Training Support' project in 2010.