By Mirrium Fumulani

Balaka, October 9, Mana: Churches Action in Relief and Development (CARD) has embarked on a new project; Resilience Enhancement for Anticipated Community Hazards (REACH) at Traditional Authority Nkaya in Balaka District to improve food availability and accessibility to households in the area.

CARD Project Assistant, Idah Ngwena, said on Tuesday during stakeholders meeting in Balaka that the project targets 400 households, 160 male headed and 240 female headed at Nkaya.

She added that the initiative came in response to challenges that people encountered in 2023 when the district was affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which led to loss of property and crops.

“All Traditional Authorities in Balaka were affected and it is against this background that CARD thought of responding this way to address some of the problems in Traditional Authority Nkaya,

“The project will provide bunches of sweet potato vines, cassava cuttings and 10 local chickens (one rooster, nine hens) to each household,” Ngwena said and further disclosed that REACH includes the distribution of high-quality seeds that are resilient to local climate condition.

She therefore advised farmers at Nkaya to grow the high quality seeds, saying such seeds will give best results in terms of yield.

 “The organization is also providing drilling and lining materials for shallow wells which will enable farmers to access groundwater more efficiently, reducing their dependence on unpredictable rainfall.

“The mobile solar irrigation kits are a game-changer to many farmers, allowing them to irrigate their fields without relying on fossil fuels,” she added.

Among others, the REACH also incorporated training sessions to orient farmers on best farming practices, ensuring they maximize benefits of the project support.

CARD started implementing the project in September 2024 and will end in September 2025 at a cost of K20 million.

To ensure proper coordination in beneficiary selection, implementation and monitoring of the project, CARD will implement the project in partnership with the Department of Disaster Risk Management (DoDMA) as a key partner.