Jon and Carrie have more than 50 years experience in the aid sector in the third world between them, Jon in water supply and sanitation and Carrie in healthcare. Some years ago an opportunity arose to acquire a 730ha former tobacco farm which had been operated, unsuccessfully, by the Press Corporation - one of former President Banda's now defunct parastatal companies. Jon and Carrie decided to put their combined experience in development to work and took the plunge.

Some 7 years or so on the project has grown and mutated as they have tried and rejected various options. They now own two farms - Funwe and Mitongwe covering approx 1100 ha, employ 270 people full time and the central focus is on the production of agricultural seed crops (principally maize and various pulses) from the two farms and from sub-contracted local farmers - more than 700 tons of it last year - which is about 4% of Malawi's annual requirement.

If the profit and loss account was the only yardstick the business focus would probably by now be on seed marketing/ distribution and cattle breeding and the farms might well have been ditched (because the farms take up a lot of time and energy and three quarters of the seed production is out-sourced) , but profit is only one of a number of objectives for Jon and Carrie.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world (as measured by income per head) and the two farms are in one of the poorest areas in Malawi - about $100/annum is the average income per head - so employment is an important objective, as is support for local schools and health services, improvement of local roads and water supply, raising awareness of the need to protect the environment and business management training - and successes in these areas are the things which put smiles on Jon and Carrie's faces.

As with any business there are many challenges, but perhaps the big test in the longer term for Funwe and Mitongwe will be whether local perception of the employment, social and environmental benefits of the commercial farms continues to outweigh the political pressure from population growth for more and more land for small farmers.