By Aliko Munde

Chitipa, January 1, Mana: As most Malawian farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture, 51-year-old Jane Mtambo of Sendelera Village in the area of Senior Traditional Authority (STA) Mwenewenya in Chitipa District has found gold in irrigation farming.

Mother of five children - two boys and three girls - says she regrets after having wasted time on rain-fed agriculture, saying irrigation farming is more profitable than the latter.

“Irrigation farming is a game changer. I have been experiencing food shortage year in year out because I was only relying on rain fed farming,” Mtambo says.

Mtambo is one of the 437 farmers doing irrigation farming in a 131-hectare Mafinga Irrigation Scheme in Group Village Head Mwenechisenga under STA Mwenewenya in the district.

The K1 billion Mafinga irrigation Scheme was constructed by Programme for Rural Irrigation Development (PRIDE) Project with funding from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

PRIDE Project commenced construction of the irrigation scheme in May 2022, as one of the interventions towards reducing food insecurity in the district and country as a whole.

This is in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number two which emphasizes promoting sustainable agriculture, ending hunger and achieving improved nutrition by 2030.

“From a maize quarter acre piece of land, I am expecting to harvest 600 kilograms, which is equivalent to 12 bags, each weighing 50 kg. My plan is to sell a few bags and reserve some for consumption at my household,” she explains.

This initiative also serves SDG three, which talks of promoting healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages.

“After harvesting the maize, I plan to plant Irish potatoes. I am even thinking of paying a fee for another piece of land within the irrigation scheme so that I can have two plots for Irish potatoes,” she says.

Mtambo then appeals to other farmers to adopt irrigation farming, describing it is a viable agriculture intervention in the advent of climate change.

The irrigation scheme will go a long way in alleviating poverty amongst small holder farmers and households, as the initiative will also provide them with income and economic opportunities.

The Mafinga Irrigation Scheme is also going to cement SDG eight, which talks of promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth for farmers.

President for the scheme, Mathias Kanyika, assures the government that farmers will take good care of the facility for it to last long.

“In the past we have been failing to irrigate our crops because of shortage of water. But after the completion of the construction of this scheme, we have managed to utilize 27.4 hectares of irrigable land. After harvesting the first round of crops, we are expecting to put into use all the 131 hectares for the second round,” said Kanyika.

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale says government has realized the importance of promoting irrigation agriculture in dealing with food insecurity.

“This is why apart from Chitipa District, the government is doing similar irrigation schemes across the country,” said Kawale.

He adds that his ministry is currently investing government resources as well as resources from the country’s development partners heavily in irrigation schemes to achieve food security as well as economic security both at household and national levels.

“The irrigation scheme that we are seeing here was financed by IFAD, and is one of the many schemes that we are developing in this country.

“Our goal is to make sure that we eliminate hunger by making sure that farmers across the country are harvesting two or three times annually,” Kawale says.

Kawale also says that the Ministry of Agriculture will not spare any resource the country has to make sure that government serves both smallholder and large scale farmers to invest in irrigation.

“I must be quick to say that we know the pressure surrounding food insecurity that we have currently as a nation. We will continue working with farmers of different calibres to sustainably sort out hunger. Some of them will be put on contract farming so that they produce more crops in a shortest period of time for us to achieve food security,” he explained.

He further explains that government is taking one step at a time to invest in different irrigation schemes across the country.

“Malawi can produce enough food to sustain itself as well as for export. We are on track,” says Kawale.