In 2014, a group of Agriculture Students from University of Malawi decided to start a small farm business enterprise with the goal of creating employment for themselves. They rented a small piece of land and started their farming journey.

As their smallholder farm business kicked off, they realized that they were surrounded by many young people who were living in poverty, yet they had access to more land than them. They decided to share their knowledge and market opportunities with a few farmers from the nearby village. The engagement with these few farmers made them uncover the deep systemic barriers that prevent smallholder farmers from increasing their incomes and transition out of extreme poverty. This experience inspired the birth of ACADES. Over the years, ACADES has transformed the livelihoods of 145,855 people by empowering 42,000 youth farmers to grow their harvests and sustain their agricultural income.