The Beef and Groundnut Value Chain: Increasing Access to Markets (GAIN) project is a five-year initiative (2022–2026) implemented by Heifer Netherlands, Heifer International Malawi, and Green Livelihoods, with funding from the Government of Flanders. The project aims to improve market access, increase household incomes, and strengthen the resilience of smallholder farming families through a market-centred push–pull approach targeting 14,000 smallholder farmers—50% women and 20% youth working in the groundnut value chain in Kasungu District and the beef value chain in Mzimba District.
By organizing farmers into cooperatives and producer groups, the initiative aims to strengthen cooperative governance and business performance, promote climate-smart agriculture and business management practices, improves access to financial services and business development support, and create sustainable market linkages with buyers and other value chain actors, ultimately enabling farming households to progress toward a sustainable living income.
Heifer International Malawi contracted Imani Consultants Ltd to conduct an endline evaluation of the project between December 2025 and January 2026, using a mixed-methods approach. The evaluation included surveys of 381 households (222 in Kasungu, 159 in Mzimba), representatives from all eight cooperatives in Kasungu and two in Mzimba, 16 key informant interviews with project staff, donors, government officers, financial institutions, and off-takers, and seven focus group discussions.