About Inde Mulanje
Empowering People. Protecting Nature.
Our Story
Empowering People. Protecting Nature.
Founded in 2023 with support from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative and BRIDGE funding, Inde-Mulanje was created to offer sustainable livelihood alternatives for smallholder farmers and forest communities living around the Mt Mulanje Biosphere Reserve.
We work with local people—many of them women—to responsibly harvest wild plants and fungi, turning them into value-added products that bring income and opportunity, while preserving the biodiversity of one of Malawi’s most iconic landscapes.
For many rural households, the easiest path to income has involved cutting trees for charcoal or overharvesting wild resources. Inde-Mulanje changes that.
By creating fair markets for responsibly harvested native species, we reduce pressure on the forest and increase income for local communities—helping to shift the value of native trees from firewood to fruit, from extraction to regeneration.
Where We Work
Rooted in the mountain. Powered by its people.
Our work began in the co-management forest blocks of Tchete and Kazembe—villages with deep cultural and ecological ties to the mountain. We focus on areas within and around Likhubula Valley and are expanding towards communities near Phalombe. These are places where knowledge of wild harvesting is still alive, and the will to protect the forest is strong.
Who We Work With
Community-led, women-powered.
Over 95% of our collectors are women. These women bring deep knowledge of native plants and harvesting traditions, and are the heart of our enterprise. We build trust first, then train collectors in sustainable methods, offer fair prices, and create long-term relationships built on mutual respect and benefit.