Moving from one dream to another- Meet Honest

That he could ever own a motorbike was a dream Honest never felt possible, not even if heavens touched the earth. But when fortunes changed and he saw a million kwacha for the first time, Honest dreams big.

Honest Chofuna, 31, from Chipse Village, Traditional Authority Chitekwele in Lilongwe is a rich man by all standards. He has a modern house with cemented floor and iron roofed, constructed two years ago and only less than a year ago he bought a brand new motorbike at K850, 000 (USD1,180).

“In the 2016/17 cropping season, I harvested 80 bags of soya beans which I sold for K765, 000 (USD1.062) and I used part of the money to build this house I am living in now. From the 2018 harvest of 120 bags of soya beans, I realized K1.25million (USD1, 736) and I used it to buy my motorbike and also built another building which is used as a warehouse and a guest wing,” he tells us while seated outside the warehouse.

Honest is one of the participants under World Vision’s Thrive project where farmers are taught to treat farming as a business and also that they follow modern methods of farming, are given loans through Vision Fund to help them produce more and when they harvest, their produce is sold through a group to markets facilitated by Farm Concern International through their Commercial Village model.

Before the intervention came to the area in 2016, Honest and his family was growing tobacco as a cash crop but they were poor, living in a grass-thatched house. They could sometimes eat only one meal per day, thereby leaving the children malnourished. In addition, Honest says he used to grow maize the traditional way with three to four plants per station, which used to give him next to nothing.

“Our son Thabo would sometimes go to school on an empty stomach. In short, we were counted as one of the very poor villagers. But now, my children have enough food and eat three times a day and people come asking for assistance from us. There is always enough sugar for them to take tea as they wish,” chips in Sekefina, his wife.

Honest has again planted three acres of soya and eight acres of maize and is expecting 150 bags of soya and more than 200 bags of maize.

“I want to buy a three-tone lorry. I am not doubting, it will happen very soon,” he enthuses as his pregnant wife nods her head in agreement, while smiling as she plucks okra leaves to use as part of relish.

The transformation in the household has also resulted in the three children, Thabo, 10, Flossy, 7 and Tamara, 4, having to eat a balanced diet, hence they are healthy.

“I want to become a school teacher,” says Tamara, who is at a nearby nursery school. Her brother Thabo, who was just returning from school where he is in standard three when we had the chat with his father and mother, says he is still debating about his future, but would like to have a decent career.

The family has the only iron-roofed house in the village and he also owns 14 goats and 14 pigs, which he bought and started raring 2017 after realizing profits from his farming endeavour.

“I would like to thank World Vision for bringing this project here, it had transformed my family and it will also transform the all households in the village once they start participating,” says Honest.

About 4,000 farmers are benefiting from Thrive, being implemented in the area under Nkhoma Area Programme.