By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, May 22, Mana: The Sustainable Food Systems for Rural Agriculture Transformation and Resilience (TRANSFORM) project has donated 20 dairy cattle to Mbalame Dairy Cooperative in Dowa to boost milk production capacity of the cooperative.

The donation has been made Tuesday through one of the implementing partners, Trustees of Agricultural Promotion Programme (TAPP) with funding from the Royal Norwegian Embassy through the NCA/DCA.

In an interview after a ceremonial handover, TAPP Head of Programmes, Brown Chitewere said in total, TAPP would donate 69 dairy cattle to the cooperative, which has been valued at around K 56 million.

"We decided to make the donation considering the potential the dairy industry has in transforming lives. This is one of the biggest game changers in the agricultural sector because it has a structured market and it is easy for farmers to get sustainable income from this. So we would like to strengthen the capacity of this cooperative in terms of production and commercialization.

"But these cattle we have given farmers today are under a pass on arrangement, meaning once they reproduce, they must give the offspring to another person so that we may reach a wider coverage," he said.

Chitekwere called upon the farmers to take care of the livestock so that the intended goals be achieved.

Chief Agriculture Officer for Dowa, Albert Kaputa said the gesture supports government's Malawi 2063 agenda which has agriculture as one of its priorities.

"In order to achieve this, we need to work together, both government, partners and individuals. The agenda talks about improving both agricultural commercialization and productivity, so this development has the potential to contribute towards this agenda," he said.

Kaputa asked the members to promote unity amongst themselves to ensure success and sustainability of the cooperative.

Chairperson for Mbalame Dairy Cooperative, Pretorius Msonthi said before the donation, the cooperative had 180 cattle, with 32 at milk production stage.

Currently the cooperative produces over 150 litres of milk a day.

"But we have big dreams which include production of our own feed to cut costs and maximize production.

"We want to commence value addition and have our own mini processor right here. We are currently annually contributing K60,000 for 12 shares per member towards this. So the donation is a big step for us in reaching our goals, and we are very thankful for this," he said.

Msonthi thanked TAPP for previously providing a generator to the cooperative which he said now provides backup power.

The cooperative was established in the year 2017 and has a membership of 290 dairy farmers with 120 male members and 170 females and this includes 43 youth and four persons with disabilities.

NCA/DCA Agriculture Value Chain Specialist Elube Kasina said the donation would help improve the cooperatives market access by improving milk production.

She added that they have donated other value addition processing equipment like oil extracting and peanut butter making machines amongst others to cooperatives cross the districts they are working in.

She said they plan to reach out to 80 farmer organizations in the districts.

By Fostina Mkandawire

Salima, May 22, Mana: Malawi Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has been commended for its efforts to promoting access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) through construction of computer laboratories at three Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) in Salima District.

Speaking during a ground breaking ceremony at Lungumadzi Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in the area of Senior Chief Kambwiri on Monday, Headmaster for the School, Louis Chafa said that the computer lab would enhance studies at the school taking into consideration that the world has gone digital.

He said learners were showing willingness to learn computer studies which the school could not afford to offer them due to different pertinent needs that the school had, therefore the coming in of MACRA was timely and would enhance education.

"This will be a motivation to learners because they will have access to internet where they can be studying and searching for information which will assist in enhancing their studies," Chafa said.

MACRA's Deputy Director of Consumers Affairs, Kelious Mlenga said through the project, 75 schools; including 73 CDSSs, one national government secondary school, and one pilot primary school are expected to benefit from the project.

"Nobody should be left behind, we want digital inclusion to be embedded in the country's education sector, we also want access to ICT to be realized at a young age, so that as the children are growing they should be well conversant with ICT," he said.

Mlenga said taking into consideration that every fundamental development depends on ICT and pertinent to align universal access to ICT with Malawi 2063.

"A good economy or education system depends on ICT which is the backbone of all the development avenues in the world, rural connectivity to ICT will promote inclusion of learners at schools situated in hard to reach areas like Lungumadzi CDSS," he said.

Member of Parliament for Salima South East, Mike Mwawa has hailed MACRA for considering Lungumadzi CDSS as one among three schools in the district to benefit from the initiative.

He urged the constructors to follow stipulated timeline of the construction period and architectural plan of the facility so that it should be of high standard.

MACRA is constructing computer laboratories through Connect-A-School' project under the Universal Service Fund (USF), to a tune of a total of K 150 million on the construction of ICT computer laboratories, to which the labs shall be connected to the Internet.

By Lyte Ali

Mangochi, May 22, Mana: Deputy Minister of Education, Nancy Chaola Mdooko has urged invigilators and learners sitting for this year's Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations to maintain integrity to ensure smooth proceeding of the examination.

She made the call in Mangochi during the inspection of PSLCE examinations at St Charles Lwanga and Makawa Primary Schools.

Mdooko expressed hope that this year’s PSLCE examinations would go without issues considering how the examination started in the two schools on Wednesday as well as signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on security issues between the Ministry of Education and law enforcers that include Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Service.

"The examinations as for now have started on a good note country wide and l believe that this year's examination will progress very well without disturbances comparing to last year when the country was hit by Tropical Cyclone Freddy," the Deputy Minister added.

She said total number of learners siting for PSLCE examinations country wide is over 260, 000, representing a decrease of 5 percent comparing to last year which saw a total figure of 276 000 learners sitting for the examinations.

Mdooko said was satisfactory with the progress that Mangochi District made as the number of girls sitting for the examinations was higher compared to other districts.

Mangochi District Council’s Chief Education Officer, Rabson Kawalala thanked the Minister for touring PSLCE examination centres in the district, saying this testified that all examinations stakeholders worked towards successful administration of the examinations.

“A total of 8,593 candidates are sitting for PSLCE examination in Mangochi, where 4,714 are girls while 3,879 are boys with a notable decrease comparing to 2023 exams where the total number of candidates was 11,261,” he added.

Kawalala hailed stakeholders in the district for supporting government’s Re-admission Policy and other interventions implemented by Mangochi District Council in ensuring that girls are sent back to school.

He added that the Re-admission Policy and council’s initiatives resulted into an increase in girls sitting for this year’s PSLCE examinations.

Kawalala urged parents and guardians to send their male children to school as most of the boys in the district opt for fishing as well as travelling to South Africa hence the decrease of male candidates in the district.   

By Steve Chirombo

Dedza, May 21, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has set aside K400 million from its Universal Access Fund for the construction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories in four Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) in Dedza district under the Connect-A-School project.

MACRA IT Manager, Gabriel Alli, said his organization hopes that through the development, they will bring ICT knowledge to students, especially in rural areas, as one way of imparting them with basic knowledge of computer usage and also bringing the ICT services across the country.

Alli made the remarks at Mpatawamilonde CDSS in Senior Group Village Head, Chamadenga, Traditional Authority Kaphuka in Dedza Central East on Monday during a groundbreaking event.

He said they will provide 60 computers at each site and some lessons for students with communities around benefiting from services that will be offered.

“We are living in a modern world and the coming in of the computer laboratories in primary and secondary schools will reduce the digital gap that is there,” he said.

He said, through the initiative, MACRA believes in achieving a significant reduction in digital gaps by 2063 while urging for a speedy construction of the sites.  

Head teacher for Mpatawamilonde CDSS, Bazwell Kalume, hailed MACRA for the intervention saying apart from students acquiring ICT knowledge, they will be able to do research on various topics on top of the motivation that will see them in school. 

Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Joshua Malango, said once completed, the site will enhance learners’ practical experience in the use of ICT.

He said apart from the laboratories and the 60 computers, MACRA is also bringing in free Wi-Fi will enable both learners and teachers to research on several topics.

By Fostina Mkandawire

Salima, May 22, Mana: As one way of improving and conserving fish species in Lake Malawi, an agreement on fisheries management has been signed between the Director of Fisheries and Sub-Fisheries Associations for Salima and Dedza.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Salima district on Monday, Director of Fisheries, Dr. Hastings Zidana expressed optimism that the agreement would improve conservation efforts of fisheries.

He implored the associations to be diligent in executing their duties in a transparent manner as good examples in the fishing communities.

"The signing ceremony is one way of empowering fishing communities in the two districts, because we have trickled down some of our duties and powers to the Associations for them to use available by-laws to enforce fisheries regulations," he said.

He also urged the Traditional Authorities to support the associations, as they will be implementing fisheries management initiatives and not tolerate corrupt practices by allowing illegal fishers to operate in their areas.

Zidana said based on the 2023 survey in the fishing grounds in lake Malawi, the fish population stands at 180,000 metric tonnes but the government's vision is to attain 350,000 metric tonnes by 2030 and 700,000 metric tonnes by 2060.

The signing ceremony was facilitated with financial assistance from Ripple Africa through its conservation project called ‘fish for tomorrow’ which seeks to empower local communities and officials to take control of illegal fishing and unsustainable fishing methods in their areas.

Country Director for Ripple Africa, Force Ngwira said the signing is a milestone towards sustainable fishing among fishing communities.

He said they are committed towards assisting communities to have legally binding by-laws that allows them to understand the dynamics of sustainable fishing and not fishing in a way that promotes wastage and catching of small fish.

In his remarks, a representative of the fisheries Associations from Salima, Abdul Haji said the signing ceremony was timely because at the moment most fishermen do not understand stipulated by laws.

"We have been empowered and we pledge to lead by example in ensuring that the fisheries resources are well managed," he said.

A total of eleven Sub-Fisheries Associations, nine from Salima and two from Dedza, signed the fisheries management agreements with the Director of Fisheries.

By Maston Kaiya

Ntcheu, May 22, Mana: Head teacher for Chimwala Primary School in Ntcheu District has commended the Ntcheu District Council for constructing an additional classroom block for the institution.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana), the head teacher, Onex Chatsunda said the facility is timely for the institution which has an enrollment of over 540 pupils.

“We have two classroom blocks and the construction of the structure is timely as a majority of learners learn under trees,” he said.

According to Chatsunda, the school has learners from standard one to eight hence calling for the council to construct more classroom blocks.

On his part, Chairperson for the Lower Ganya Area Development Committee, Inkson Nzunga said their wish is to see all the pupils learn under a conducive environment.

“While we commend the council for constructing the additional classroom block, our appeal is to have all the learners learn under a conducive environment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ntcheu District Council Director of Planning and Development, Obed Mwalughali said they are geared to construct more classroom blocks in the district aimed at improving education standards.

Mwalughali said the education sector development is amongst the key priorities for the council.

“The council has lined up a number of infrastructure projects with the education sector being the beneficiaries,” he said.

The new Chimwala Primary School Classroom block which is worth over MK25 million has been constructed with funds from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) pool.

During the 2024/25 budget sitting, parliament raised money for CDF from MK 100 million to MK 200 million.

By Linda Likomwa

Phalombe, May 22, Mana: Phalombe District Council has surpassed 2023/24 tree planting target with 566, 931 tree seedlings and attributed the achievement to various partners and programmes in the district for mobilizing communities to participate in the forestry season.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Wednesday, District Forestry Officer, Yasin Mtesha said the district planned to plant 2 million trees, but planted 2, 566,931 trees and acknowledge the role played by non-governmental organizations and other development partners working in the district for mobilizing communities to plant trees within the national forestry season from December 15 to April 15.

He said the council planted trees through Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP), Food for Assets (FFA), One Acre Fund, Wee Forest, Inter Aide, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church Council, among others.

“We are now looking at the survival rate of trees as we are yet to compile a report on the same. We are hoping that a good number has survived although we were faced with dry spell,” he said.

Mtesha advised the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to work with Village Natural Resources Management Committees for easy monitoring of trees at community level.

One of community members, Maliet James from Tradition Authority Mkhumba commended CS-EPWP initiatives for contributing positively to tree planting saying that most trees survived due to a spirit of ownership instilled in the communities.

2023/24 national Forestry season was launched by President Lazarus Chakwera in Phalombe at Mpasa Hill on January 18, 2024.