Givious Chiwere

I am Givious Chiwere from Mangochi District in Malawi. I have grown up in my home town in Mangochi district which lies along Lake Malawi in a family of 4 children. I have done my primary school at Chantulo primary school and proceeded to Mtendere secondary school where I got my Malawi School Leaving Certificate (MSCE). After completion of the high school, I got enrolled at Mzuzu University where I graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science Degree in Water Resources Management and Development. I have worked in different organisations and private companies stating from the position of project coordinator up to the post of Water Engineer.

During the time I have been working, I also established my farming company called Almonds farm. This farm focuses on production of horticultural crops, rearing livestock and growing fruit trees. At the farm, we also focus on training the local farmers on the modern farming technologies for the improvement of their livelihoods. Currently my focus is in the expansion of the farm and the adoption of innovative technologies to keep up with the changing times of doing sustainable agriculture.

The idea of setting up a farming company came about to contribute to the food security of the country and also to create employment opportunities for the young and women. The farming business is still in its early stage of development as we are currently in the first phase of project implementation. The second phase will involve the development of farm infrastructure and then proceeding to value addition.

I have accomplished a number of achievements both as an employee and also a managing Director of Almonds Farm. As a project coordinator, I have taken part in responding to humanitarian activities during the worst floods which occurred in the year 2015 in Lower shire of Malawi. Apart from that, I have managed to design solar water supply systems in the rural areas for water supply projects as the time I was working as an Engineer.

As for the farming business, the achievement comes from the establishment of the farm and implementing different activities on it. The hiring of people and also the impact in knowledge transfer to the surrounding communities is also part of the achievements for the farm. It is my desire to connect with people of different backgrounds, learn from them, find mentors and also investment partners. There are so much opportunities which Malawi offers in the agriculture sector like, fruit farming, aquaculture, cattle fattening business, bee keeping and also rice farming through commercial farming.

On my personal hobbies, I like travelling, playing football, social interaction and also reading books of different topics.