Community development advisor Chrissy Moyo can’t wait to get back to Malawi to share with her farmers what she learned from an intensive agricultural training course that she recently completed in the UK.

The 29-year-old returns both energised and inspired by the experience of her ten weeks training made possible by a bursary provided by Marshall Papworth Fund.

Amongst four Self Help Africa community-based trainers chosen for the course at the Moulton Agricultural College in Northamptonshire, one of the UK’s leading agricultural colleges, Chrissy says that the experience in England will be invaluable to her future work.

“We learned about different agricultural and animal husbandry practices. I know a lot more too about soil management and testing, horticultural production, livestock care and feeding, and various aspects of conservation farming,” she said.

“Delivering knowledge to the farmers requires good communication skills. I’ve learned a lot about facilitation skills. It will be very helpful in my work when I go back to Malawi,” she reflects.

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Down the line, it is the most vulnerable farmers in Malawi who will benefit from the course, Chrissy predicts.

“The farmers I work with were delighted that I got to attend the course. They know I will pass on my knowledge to them. Eventually it will improve their daily lives.”

But it wasn’t just farm knowledge that Chrissy and her counterparts picked up in the UK, as they observed too how gender equality was much more the norm in English society than in Malawi.

“When I go back, I will tell the farmers that we need to change this. Men and women should be treated equally,” Chrissy said.