Destiny Lay Farm (DLF) is a rural enterprise established in 2020 and registered in 2022, operating in Machinga District. The enterprise works to increase access to poultry products while supporting efforts to address low household incomes, limited access to nutritious food and unemployment in rural communities.
The farm’s Founder and Managing Director, Mphatso Kapito, was part of the first cohort of the Advancing Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Development (ASELD) program, an acceleration program for entrepreneurs in rural and peri-urban areas of Malawi. Through a series of capacity-building trainings, Kapito gained a range of skills that proved instrumental to running and growing his business.
One of the modules most relevant to his business was Digital Marketing for Entrepreneurs, which included social media marketing. To make the learning practical, the tutors ran a hands-on session on using Canva to design posters and other marketing materials. This inspired the farm to revamp its Facebook page and use it to market its products and services.
A message arrived from Tanzania that would have been unthinkable a few months earlier. A businessman had found Destiny Lay Farms’ Facebook page, liked what he saw and reached out. Soon after, the two sides sealed a deal worth 10 million kwacha. It started with a page that was not active before the ASELD training.
Before joining the project, the farm’s customers came mostly from word of mouth and the surrounding area. The digital marketing skills that , the founder, gained during the ASELD trainings changed that. He reactivated his Facebook page for the business, and customers began arriving from across Malawi and from beyond its borders. He also learned to design his own online posters on Canva, something that simply wasn’t happening before. Promotions that once might have gone unadvertised now go out looking sharp and professional and the Tanzanian deal is proof that the effort paid off.
But marketing was only one part of the change. As he went through the training, he began to see the business differently. For years it had run as a family entity, with everyone doing a bit of everything. The lessons made him realise that if the farm was going to grow, it had to become an institution with clear roles and real expertise applied to each need.
That was when he introduced an internship programme at the farm. Roles were separated and people with the right skills were brought in to focus on specific areas of the business.
Poultry was the clearest example. He keeps chickens himself and he knew that around 70% of the cost of raising them goes on feed. The farm had always bought its feed, which meant a large share of its money went out the door with every batch. After the training, he saw that this was the place to start. With two animal science graduates from LUANAR on the team, the farm now makes its own feed. What was once a constant expense is now a capability the business has built for itself.
Before the ASELD project by EMERGE Livelihoods, our customers came mostly from word of mouth. Today, digital marketing takes us across borders, and our Canva posters make every promotion look professional. But the growth didn’t stop at marketing. We moved from a family business to an institution, with separate roles, real expertise, and an internship programme at the farm. Since feed takes about 70% of the cost of raising chickens, we now make our own, thanks to our team of animal science graduates from LUANAR. – Mphatso Kapito
Currently, the farm reaches customers it could never have reached before, competes for deals across the border and is turning its biggest cost into its own strength. The change came from learning to market smarter, organise better and trust the right people with the right work.
Emerge Livelihoods, in partnership with GIZ and GOPA AFC under the More Income and Employment in Rural Areas III (MIERA III) initiative is implementing the Advancing Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Development (ASELD) program that is designed as a business acceleration program focused on supporting enterprise growth and scaling up.
