Welosi Gwazani, Thomas Sambo and Nelson Kapatamoyo  are farmers and friends who deposited grain between them at Kafulu Warehouse.

We grouped together as a team to deposit five metric tonnes in the Kafulu Association's ACE certified warehouse as we could not manage that amount by ourselves. We trusted each other and we would steal between us, as we were sensitised together at the Blantyre Fair where we heard about the warehouse programme and so we decided to present our maize together. We have known each other since then and have a good relationship. We also trusted what we were told by ACE staff at the fair and we understood what had to be done, so we set about grouping together and harvesting our maize. We are aware that there are charges for keeping our maize in the warehouse, and we also know it has to be a certain standard - graded. Now we bring bags of maize and our commodity is transferred into new bags provided at the warehouse. Here we know our maize is safe - in the village it used to get infested by pests. When we get the finance we portion it out between us, and we will spend it on different priorities. We put it towards school fees, inputs for farming for the next season, and also buying tin roof sheets for the house. At the moment the only challenge is that we would like our maize to be sold at a higher price and we would also like transport to bring it to the warehouse. Also, we need a bigger warehouse as this one has reached capacity. We have kept our maize in storage before but this one is certified, well ventilated and we know it is safe.