CV Holdings Farm Project - Dowa, Malawi.
The Dowa Farm Project is a strategic agricultural development by CV Holdings Limited, focused on transforming 40 acres of land into a productive, sustainable, and modern farming hub. This timeline outlines the major phases of the project—from initial land preparation and infrastructure setup to crop trials and operational scaling—demonstrating our commitment to smart agriculture, food security, and long-term impact.
2025 - 2026 Growing Season
The 2025–2026 season builds on the experience gained from our foundation year. We now understand more about how the soil responds, how labour needs to be organised, and how planning affects yields. The lessons learned from our first harvest have shaped the way we prepare, prioritise and invest.
One of the most significant improvements this season is the establishment of a reliable water supply system. With a water pump and structured irrigation in place, we are now able to manage crops more consistently, reduce weather related risks, and extend production beyond the rainy season. In addition to that, we have planned to work the larger section of the land under rainfed production to take advantage of the coming rains. This allows us to expand cultivation while still maintaining irrigation support where needed.
With these improvements, our focus has shifted towards strengthening crop management practices, record keeping and timely supervision. Input usage, labour coordination, field monitoring and harvest handling are now guided by the documented operational tools developed last season. These tools help ensure that work is traceable, decisions are informed and outcomes can be evaluated clearly.
This season represents a transition from simply proving that the land can produce, to demonstrating that it can produce reliably, sustainably and at greater scale. We are not only growing crops. We are growing consistency, capacity and readiness for expansion.
We invite you to follow this journey through the timeline updates shared below.
Irrigation Section
Planning Phase to Land Clearing
As we prepared for the 2025 to 2026 growing season, we outlined our crop focus clearly. We selected a Tomato F1 hybrid variety known for vigour, consistency an ...
Land Ploughing and Nursery Planting
After completing the land clearing, the next stage was ploughing and preparing nursery beds. The ploughing was done systematically to loosen ...
Tomato Transplanting and Beans Planting
When the tomato seedlings reached the right stage for field establishment, we carefully transplanted them into the main field. Each seedling was spaced to allo ...
Rain-fed Section
Land Preparation & Foundation
We are excited to announce that the first phase of our rain-fed farming project is now underway! This critical stage transforms the raw, untapped land into a f ...
2024 - 2025 Growing Season
This growing season marked an important foundation stage for CV Holdings Farm in Dowa. It was a period of learning, rebuilding and laying down systems that support responsible and efficient farm management. The work focused on land preparation, establishing ridges, seedbed management and the introduction of structured farm record-keeping tools. These steps have helped us build discipline in planning, labour coordination and input management.
We planted beans and sweet potatoes as pioneer crops. Their performance offered valuable insight into soil behaviour, labour patterns, crop care routines and market timing. The first harvest, though modest, was meaningful. It provided more than produce. It gave us evidence that the land is fertile, the effort worthwhile and the vision achievable.
This season was also about strengthening teamwork and redefining how we work. Each task, from field clearing to harvest storage, contributed towards shaping a culture of accountability, transparency and good agricultural practice. The lessons gained will guide the scaling of production, improvement of yields and introduction of more commercial crops in the coming cycles.
Site Planning for CV Holdings Farm Project
The site planning for the CV Holdings farm project was a crucial first step in ensuring long-term success. We carefully assessed the land to determine optimal ...
Why Many Farms Fail Before They Even Start Growing and How Systems Can Save Yours
Running a farm is more than planting crops and waiting for the harvest. It is about having clear systems, well-designed tools and accurate records that guide d ...
The First Harvest: A Seed of Hope and Growth
There is always something sacred about a first harvest. At CV Holdings, we have just reaped our very first beans and sweet potatoes from our farm, and while th ...
What Does Giving Back to Labourers Really Look Like?
At CV Holdings, we believe that a farm grows best when the people who work on it grow too. That is why our approach to learning goes beyond routine instruction ...
Before We Plant, We Listen to Water
Most people think farming begins with land clearing, seeds, or fertiliser.At CV Holdings, we have learned that farming begins much earlier than that. It starts ...
