Lovemore Khomo | February 15, 2024
News Brief
In Kasungu, Malawi, Funny Kampala defies traditional gender roles by using agriculture to support her family. Her husband makes a modest income as a guard, but Mrs. Kampala's cultivation of high-value crops such as maize, soybeans, and groundnuts makes her the main provider for the family. She earned 440,000 Malawi kwacha ($260 US) last season. Her husband supports her by sharing household duties, a shift from traditional gender roles and beliefs. Their partnership highlights the need for society to support women farmers, which promotes family and community well-being.
It’s Wednesday morning and Funny Kampala has just finished weeding her maize field. Her crops look green and healthy, giving her big hope for another year of bumper harvests.
Mrs. Kampala’s husband didn’t accompany her to her farm because he just arrived home and is tired from work. He works in Kasungu as a temporary guard for shops owned by business people in the area.
Mrs. Kampala says, “My husband earns little money from the temporary work. I am the breadwinner for the family because I get better income from farming.”
Mrs. Kampala lives in Kabuluzi village in Kasungu district, about 130 kilometres from Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. She has three children and plays an important role of supporting her family financially, which is not the norm.
She explains: “In this country, there is a traditional belief in many communities that only men have the responsibility of supporting their families financially. But things are gradually changing because women like me are able to work hard and support our husbands and kids with income from farming.”
She has been using her farming income to support her family’s basic needs since 2017. Apart from maize, she grows high-value crops such as soybeans and groundnuts.
Last growing season, Mrs. Kampala made 240,000 Malawi kwacha ($142 US) by selling six 50-kilo bags of soybeans at 800 kwacha ($0.47 US) per kilogram.
She also harvested five 50-kilo bags of unshelled groundnuts, for which she earned about 200,000 kwacha ($150 US).
Mrs. Kampala has a two-acre piece of land for farming. Although the high-value crops help her support her family, she says that a shortage of land to grow more high-value crops limits her profits.
She adds: “For a long time, women’s role has been confined to performing household chores and taking care of children. These days, where us women grow high-value crops and have become breadwinners, we are making our families stronger financially because we are able to help in reducing financial problems in our families.”
Her husband, Jacob Kampala, says he is grateful to his wife. He adds: “My wife is a hard-working woman who knows what she wants. She has vividly in recent years supported our house with money and basic necessities from the profit she made from farming.”
Mr. Kampala explains that, because he works nights and comes home in the morning, he supports his wife to do household chores such as cooking and washing clothes, despite the fact that he is a man.
He says: “For me to start doing household chores, which traditionally are performed by women, I was motivated by my wife’s hard work. We have been together for a long time, so I think it is proper to support her, since she is also trying her best to ensure that as a family, we thrive together.”
Mr. Kampala says that traditional beliefs that sideline women and suggest they should not take the lead in supporting their household should be discouraged because things have changed.
Jessie Ching’oma is a gender activist and board member for the Gender Coordination Network, a local civil society group advocating for equality amongst Malawians.
She says that, for women to be successful cultivating high-value crops and be able to support their families, they need strong support from all members of society. This includes policy-makers and decision-makers who can help more women own land and fight against different kinds of discrimination and negative stereotypes.
Mrs. Ching’oma says: “Let us have more women own land for them to be more productive in farming. Women should not relent but be gentle in convincing their husbands to help in performing household chores. Men should allow women to work hard and support their families financially.”
Mrs. Kampala is putting her income to good use. She says, “I used the money to pay school fees for my children who are in secondary schools. Recently, I have also managed to construct a good house with the help of my husband.”
This resource was produced through the ‘UCARE – Unpaid Care in sub-Saharan Africa‘ initiative, which aims to increase gender equality and women’s empowerment through a commitment to more just and equitable sharing of unpaid care and domestic work within the household and the family in sub-Saharan Africa. The project is implemented in partnership with Farm Radio International (FRI), UN Women, and The African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET) thanks to funding from Global Affairs Canada.
Photo: Mrs. Kampala standing in front of her garden where she diversified from Soya in Malawi