Greenpop deepens climate resilience work with Mulanje Mission Hospital
Greenpop, a South African organisation on a mission to plant trees, green communities and empower environmental stewards, has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to supporting communities in Malawi through sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem restoration programs.
Since 2017, the organization has been working in close partnership with Mulanje Mission Hospital (MMH), focusing on sustainable adaptation in tea-growing areas, before expanding to community-level interventions.
In an interview with Malawi24, Misha Teasdale, Chief Executive Officer of Greenpop, said the partnership with MMH has enabled them to run a range of community-level programs that empower households to build resilience and improve livelihoods.
“What’s been really beneficial is that from a leadership perspective, MMH really sees sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem health very much connected to public health. In other words, if you don’t have healthy ecosystems, then it’s very hard to have a healthy public.
“You know, if there’s soil erosion, if there’s heat waves, if there is shock, to communities through climate events, it becomes challenging to keep people healthy,” said Teasdale.
Through its partnership, Greenpop provides technical guidance, monitoring structures and funding support, while MMH implements projects on the ground. Among the key interventions are micro-tree nurseries that allow communities to grow and sell thousands of seedlings each year. Households are paid per tree planted and monitored, ensuring both environmental and economic benefits.
Teasdale said tree planting has opened doors to wider livelihood programs, including beekeeping, which is used to promote natural regeneration in sensitive ecosystems such as riversides and hilltops. Communities receive beehives and training, generating income from honey while protecting forests from soil erosion and climate shocks.
One community, he said, went further on its own after experiencing success. “They saw so much success that they actually, on their own restored five kilometers worth of river frontage because of how much they lost during Cyclone Freddy and how much benefit they saw from the areas that did have trees along the river frontage with the bees that were within that forested areas,” he noted.
Other initiatives include animal pass-on schemes, where farmers who meet conservation targets receive livestock that is later passed to other members, and village savings and loans groups that strengthen financial resilience. Buyback programs for products such as honey, beeswax and chilies are also creating local markets.
Despite these successes, Teasdale highlighted several challenges. These include destructive farming practices such as slash-and-burn and overuse of chemical fertilizers, community conflicts where some villages resist conservation measures, and theft of trees and beehives from restored areas.
Teasdale went on to say the evolving global market is redefining corporate responsibility, noting that companies are no longer judged solely on profit, but on their contributions to a healthy environment and thriving society.
“Greenpop’s partnership with Mulanje Mission Hospital shows how this can work in practice, linking environmental stewardship with tangible economic and social benefits. Supporting local communities isn’t charity, it’s smart business,” he noted.
He concluded by saying by investing in programs that empower smallholder farmers, Malawian companies can secure resilient, ethical supply chains, strengthen local economies through savings and livestock initiatives, and build trust through transparent, multi-stakeholder governance that aligns corporate investment with real community needs.
He also highlighted that partnering with organizations like Greenpop, Malawian businesses can move beyond traditional CSR to lead a new era of purpose-driven enterprise, where environmental health and societal prosperity form the foundation of long-term success.
