October 2009
Dear friend,
I am grateful for your support of The Next Step; ActionAid’s Hunger Free Campaign has changed my life!
My name is Nelliepe Mtete, 45, and I live in Mnganya village, northern Malawi. I am proud to be a successful farmer, and I have a wonderful story to share with you. Hanna Chimangire from ActionAid has helped me write to you today.
I got married to Chief Nerbert Katumbi in 1973 and we were blessed with six children, four boys; Noel, Chalero, Shane and Lyacha and two girls; Timale and Charity. I was happily married until he died in 2003 after battling with a long illness. 
We were farmers, and grew a variety of crops such as maize, groundnuts, and beans and we also reared goats and chickens. 2003 was the saddest year in my life!
I never thought I would suffer property grabbing as many women in my area do, but my in-laws grabbed our land. I was helpless with my children but life had to go on. My produce dropped and it was difficult to make ends meet.
ActionAid’s Hunger Free Campaign rescued me! The campaign aimed at turning Malawi into a hunger free nation. In my area the campaign identified property grabbing as a serious cause of hunger and poverty.
ActionAid brought women together, and I was one of them. We were trained on our rights and legal provisions to fight property grabbing. It was clear that we could not win the battle as individuals, so we formed a network called the Coalition of Women Farmers (COWFA) . As an active member I was elected the first chairperson for the group. It has 10 executive members, and a total membership of over 500.
We took my case to court, and ActionAid supported us through mediations with police and settling of financial costs.
Thank heavens I won the case. The court ordered my in-laws to give me back the land and property. I received a loan from the Malawi Rural Finance Company which helped me to buy fertilisers, which has helped me to improve my maize production.
I am now able to send my children to good schools; Shane is pursuing a course in Education, and Charity is going for an accountancy course in October this year. I miss my husband, but at least I am able to provide for my family. 
As a chairperson of the COWFA, I am a role model and assist fellow women to increase their crop production. 200 women are being assisted with irrigation on communal farms and are able to produce maize, beans and vegetables twice a year. It is my dream to see them scale up and find better markets for their produce.
As a coalition we are planning to request the government to support us with a good rural road to help transport our produce to markets!
Once again thank you for your support of the next Step, and I hope you enjoyed reading my story.
Yours sincerely,
Nelliepe
P.S. I have enclosed a couple of photos of me happily growing vegetables.
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