Objective 1: Reduce extreme poverty and hunger

Stiveria Ndala

37 years old
Single mother of one
Graduate of Bunda College in Agriculture (Malawi)
Agriculture Coordinator for CADECOM
Established 31 community-based child care centers
Lives in Mangochi, Malawi

---

Stiveria Ndala is an Agriculture Technician who works alongside farmers in Malawi. She is also a small scale farmer, managing to grow maize, sweet potatoes, soybeans and pigeon peas on 0.8 hectares, in her home of Mulanje.

In 2007, she spent two months sharing and learning with the agricultural community of Nova Scotia — an experience made possible by the Uniterra program in collaboration with Acadia University and Leadership in Environment and Development (LEAD) Canada.  
 
Back in Malawi, Ndala held workshops about her Canadian experience for fellow farming technicians. Now she is in Mangochi, collaborating with the Catholic Development Commission of Malawi (CADECOM), to pass her Canadian agricultural teachings on to a larger audience.  
 
"Both men and women have a stake in development. In Malawi there is a saying, 'when you educate a woman you educate the nation' — an indication of the immense potential that women have in influencing change," says Ndala.

And Ndala's agricultural expertise has sowed the seeds of change at CADECOM; they are reinforcing their commitment to smart development principles, including cooperative development, agro-enterprise, environmental management, asset-based community development, organic farming and economic empowerment of women.  These practices combine to reduce poverty and hunger in Ndala's community.

Back to Portrait of 8 women >>