With the help of Unicorn Co-operative Grocery we gave farmers in Neno, Magoni and Thyolo the opportunity to become independent and financially secure through developing nurseries for high-value cash crops of macadamia, organic coffee and tea. Whilst co-op members each have an average of 130 trees, the reality is that each member ideally needs a minimum of 1,500 trees to achieve a decent income.

Because farmers struggle to access the necessary funds to buy quality seedlings, this project provided a revolving loan scheme to purchase seedlings, as well as providing best practice agricultural training and our life changing co-operative support, leading to an increase in harvest yield and growing income for members. Due to the perennial nature of these high-value crops, co-op members are guaranteed a long-term consistent and reliable crop for market, helping to increase earnings and make people’s livelihoods stable in the long-term.