What was the initiative?

The Tingathe (meaning ‘We Can’) Women’s Goat Cooperative in Chilanga, Malawi was the main pillar of Sophie’s Pathy initiative. In October 2023, the cooperative was launched, regrouping 21 women who had a vision to explore how sustainable goat management could improve livelihoods and remediate soil. Rooted in feminist agroecological principles, they explored local realities of goat husbandry, held diverse capacity building workshops, and created a microfinance program. By combining traditional knowledge, lived experience and scientific research, the cooperative ensured healthy pasture was planted, a shelter was built, and goats were adopted and cared for. They partnered with local sustainable agriculture organizations that held on-site trainings and members also travelled to Tanzania and Kenya to build capacity on agroecology, seed saving and decolonial feminism. Considering the long-term nature of livestock farming, the cooperative simultaneously developed a microloan program to ensure financial sustainability and tackle the major financial barriers affecting women’s livelihoods. By the end of Sophie’s fellowship, the cooperative had 19 goats, successfully birthing 4 babies, and were starting to create a business selling milk, cheese and soap.  

What was the community connection?

Throughout the pandemic, Sophie worked virtually with a campus in Chilanga, Malawi that was connected her university. With a team of students, she collaborated with the community to create educational programming for their women’s chicken cooperative. The fellowship enabled her to travel to Chilanga and meet many of the people she had previously worked with, a transformational experience that deepened her relationships and fostered connection.  

How was it innovative?

The initial skepticism that the community leaders had concerning women’s capacity to herd goats, speaks to the initiative’s innovation. The Tingathe Women’s Goat Cooperative challenged gender norms through decolonial feminist approaches and empowered women to take the lead. Kasungu, the district where the community is located, is an agricultural zone where conventional farming methods outweigh organic techniques due to fertilizer lobbies. These unsustainable methods were challenged by exploring agroecological methods of raising livestock and the potential of manure as organic fertilizer. Finally, the cooperative was built using the framework of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) which supported the members in mobilizing their strengths opposed to adopting the frequent narrative of helplessness.  

• The creation of the Tingathe Women’s Goat Cooperative was an incredible achievement. The commitment, creativity, and collaboration of each member went beyond any initial expectations and is the fuel that keeps it growing. 

• The numerous capacity building workshops enabled members to plant healthy pasture, compare shelter designs, learn about goat health, and explore the meaning of feminism in their community. 

• Partnerships and relationships were built with agroecological organizations working in East Africa. This provided training opportunities whilst also creating a network for long-term support.  

• Over a 5-month period, the cooperative managed to independently make a 100,000MK in profit, demonstrating local financial sustainability. Furthermore, fundraising campaigns proved successful in leveraging 1,000CAD$ in international funds to support their efforts.  

• The adoption of 15 goats and the birth of four healthy kids (baby goats) underlined the members’ level of commitment and care.  

• The development of a business plan for future milk, cheese and soap production demonstrated the sustainability of the cooperative’s model.  

• Sophie also learned basic Chichewa, which she considers a significant achievement.   

What is Sophie doing now?

Sophie is working for the summer as a farm and communications intern for the Hudson Heartbeet Community Farm, a community-based initiative in her hometown. She is extremely excited by this opportunity as it enables her to reflect on her fellowship experience and explore many of the lessons learned with her local community. Her fellowship year taught her volumes about feminist agroecology in practice which she hopes to continue applying in her daily life. Moving forward, she would like to explore queer feminist agroecology, and seed sovereignty, potentially returning to East Africa to maintain relationships and continue the cross-cultural dialogues. Ultimately though, Sophie’s current dream is to return to her family home, design a food forest in her parent’s backyard, and adopt pigs and chickens!