Vice President Jane Ansah has challenged vulnerable people at Dwanga in Nkhotakota to form cooperatives that can help them move beyond dependence on handouts.
Ansah said the cooperatives will bring together people with disabilities and those without disabilities, with families also playing a role in supporting the initiatives.
She made the remarks after donating assorted items to vulnerable groups through the Jane Ansah Foundation.
Ansah said her foundation will support the cooperatives to start income-generating activities once they are formally established.
“If they are doing maybe rabbit rearing, we will assist them to begin with buying the rabbits and building the rabbit houses,” she said.
She said those opting for farming would also receive support with inputs such as seed and fertiliser.
“If it’s farming, we will assist them with seed and fertilizer, as we did in Rumphi,” Ansah said.
According to Ansah, the objective is for the cooperatives to eventually operate without continued dependence on external assistance.
“The plan is that these cooperatives should be formed and they should be assisted and they should become independent, self-sustaining,” she said.
Her proposal comes after some beneficiaries raised longer-term challenges, including housing needs for people with albinism.
Ansah said cooperatives could provide a pathway for such groups to generate income and eventually meet needs such as housing.
“There are over 1,000 people with albinism, apart from the aged and the others. The only solution is for them to form a cooperative, make it work, and from the cooperative they will have the houses and their needs will be met,” she said.
The foundation donated 430 bags of 50-kilograize, 430 blankets and 430 packs of soya pieces to the beneficiaries.
