Though I have known that I was going to Malawi with Engineers Without Borders for a few months now, I just today receieved the details of my placement. The host organisation which I will be working with is the Bwanje Environmental and Rural Development Organization (BERDO).

BERDO is a small community based non-governmental organization that is focussing on improving livelihoods through small-scale agriculture and food security projects, and natural resource management. The organization works mainly on issues identified by the community, which currently are:

1) Improvement of hygiene and environmental sanitation,

2) Gender and Education – School management committees to empower teachers, parents, students to increase school enrolment,

3) Agriculture: Irrigation, Agro-forestry, Soil and Water Management, Crop diversification, Market research, Food processing – Baking and processing cooking oil from groundnuts.

Within the organisation I will specifically be working on the smallholder agriculture/food security component of the project.