Dadiso Punungwe

organization overview

GGEM Farming is putting more money into farmers’ pockets and more affordable food onto plates across Malawi. It starts by providing the agricultural inputs, expertise, training, logistics, and infrastructure required for framers to significantly boost their yield and incomes. Using an ethical buying and selling ethos, GGEM-Farmer Basic Staple Food produce is prioritized for low-income community access. Food systems can be fair. GGEM-Farmer produce is bought from farmers at 60 percent or more above local vendor prices, then sold via a network of GGEM in-community retailers as price-controlled food, thereby curtailing vendor profiteering, which, when unchecked, can rise above 400 percent of the recommended food value.

Personal Bio

Dee is a seasoned farmer, founder, and agronomy buff. Before becoming a champion for respectful farmer engagement platforms that create joint solutions with farming communities, Dee studied business psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, graduating in 2010 and moving back home to do things differently. Dee’s passion for design and women in agriculture allowed Dee to build a farmer-first model.

Dee believes that commercializing smallholder production will change Africa’s landscape via rebuilding smallholder farmer trust and meaningfully investing in food system strengthening to maximize income growth, job creation, and affordable food pipelines into Africa’s low-income communities. Her approach to success in the agricultural sector includes a combination of active collaboration, contextualized solutions, passion, and creativity about boosting rural farmer community economies.