By Martha Simchimba

Lilongwe, April 17, Mana; Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) has donated a motorcycle to Lilongwe District Council in order to ease mobility in monitoring projects that are implemented in the district.

Speaking on Wednesday in Lilongwe during the handover ceremony, CISONECC’s National Coordinator, Julius Ng’oma noted that since they started implementing their projects in the district, they have never seen officers monitoring their projects, hence the donation.

“During our project implementation, we noted that transport was a big challenge at the Council for the Environmental officers to be monitoring environmental projects that are being implemented in the district. But this motorcycle will not only be used to monitor our projects, but all the activities that are implemented in the district,” he said.

Speaking after receiving the motorcycle, District Commissioner (DC) for Lilongwe Dr. Lawford Palani thanked CISONNECC for the donation saying it would enable the officers to carry their duties effectively and efficiently.

“Transportation has been a challenge at the council as a number of officers do not have adequate vehicles and this motorbike will help us in filling the gap. Therefore, this gesture is true reflection of a good relationship between us and CISONECC,” he noted.

Palani appealed to other organizations to involve the Council at all levels and emulate the gesture CISONECC has done.

He has since urged the officers to put the motorcycle in good use and have sense of ownership so that it serves the intended purpose.

CISONECC is implementing a project known as Promoting Equitable Access to Clean Energy (PEACE) which is aimed at ensuring that citizens and civil society organizations are better informed and empowered to advocate and strengthening environment for equitable access to clean energy in the country.

By Lekereni Chinkhota

Salima, April 17, Mana: As one way of dealing with scarcity and exorbitant prices of sugar in the country, Salima Sugar Company Limited has opened its 2024 sugar production season to provide Malawians with sugar through their depots that will be opened across the country.

Speaking during the opening of the season at Salima Sugar factory in Salima on Tuesday, Minister of Trade and Industry, Sosten Gwengwe, said the commencement of sugar production at the factory will help fix shortage of sugar in markets and stabilize prices.

“Malawi is a sugar exporter but last year production was seriously affected by cyclone Freddy that led to scarcity of sugar in the country since December. Salima sugar has started its cycle today and we are flooding the market with sugar at normal prices and people will not scramble for the commodity anymore,” he said.

Gwengwe said for Malawi to be economically mature it needs to focus on production than trading.

He said it is important for Malawi to escalate production using commercial agriculture which will align to pillar two of Malawi 2063 in order to spur economic growth.

Executive Chairman for Salima Sugar Company Limited, Counsel Wester Kosamu, said the company has already embarked on a number of activities to ensure that Salima sugar is available on the market.

“We have already earmarked 1,000 hectares of land which we plan to plant cane. We are also planning to expand the milling to be producing more sugar as our sugar has been scarce on the market.

"We advertised for distributorship and we have signed contracts with distributors that will be selling our sugar across the country," he said.

Kosamu said the company plans to collaborate with over 250 small scale farmers that are managing cane around the factory and give the idle land the company has to other small scale farmers willing to work with the company with each farmer expected to get two hectares of the land.

Senior Chief Mwanza expressed gratitude saying the company’s plans will allow citizens to benefit from all works of the company such as job creation.

Salima Sugar Company has opened its first ever depot at Siyasiya Trading in Salima, where it plans to sell its sugar to people around the factory before spreading across the country.

By Lyte Ali

Mangochi, April 17, Mana: National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) has said it was happy with percentage of loan repayment by communities in Mangochi, saying the district was currently surpassing the national loan repayment.

Speaking during a stakeholders meeting which was organized in Mangochi on Tuesday, Head of Finance at NEEF, Benedicto Kananza said out of over K4 billion that the institution disbursed to communities in Mangochi for the past three years, it has managed to collect 85 percentage of the loans.

He said following the development, in this current financial year, NEEF would disburse K4 billion to communities, with an aim to expand businesses and farming activities in the lake shore district.

‘‘We are impressed with how communities in Mangochi are responding on loans repayment, which is at 85 percent, surpassing the national loan repayment, currently at 70 percent.

‘‘As such, in this financial year alone, we are set to disburse K4 billion in the district, and our focus this year will include providing substantial loans for both businesses and farming activities, with a special emphasis on supporting winter irrigation farming to utilize the district's plentiful water resources," Kananza said.

He said their institution was facing difficulties in loan repayment by some people across the country, a development which was delaying them to empower other Malawians.

The Head of Finance urged stakeholders in Mangochi to continue paying back their outstanding loans' balances, in order to enable other people in the district to access loans.

Kananza added that, “The aim of us is to empower all Malawians economically, however, we are facing challenges when collecting loans repayment from others to extent that some of our staffs get beaten in the process.’’

‘This makes it difficult for us to operate, and at the same time prevents us from accessing back the loans balances.

Chairperson for Mangochi District Council, Councilor, Hassan Chikuta hailed NEEF for providing an opportunity to communities in the district, saying it has helped to uplift livelihoods of many households in Mangochi.

One of the stakeholders to the meeting, Golden Tebulo, expressed gratitude with the meeting saying it has been an eye opener on how loans are accessed at NEEF, and how to effectively utilize the resources.

By Golden Kang'oma

Salima, April 17, Mana: Assemblies of God Care has been commended for its role in community empowerment and improving livelihoods through diverse initiatives being implemented by Conservation of Natural Resources for Sustainable Economic Returns (CONCERVE).

Implemented by Assemblies of God Care, a development arm of the Malawi Assemblies of God, the project focuses on enhancing the well-being and resilience of vulnerable populations residing on the outskirts of Thuma forest and Kuti Wildlife Reserve.

Speaking after touring the project’s initiatives in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Chisamba, Salima District Council's Acting Director of Natural Resources and Environment, Adam Jason highlighted that the strides being made through the project continue to change lives.

He said the interventions that are taking place through the project which include reclamation of gullies, trainings on production of locally made fertilizer (Mbeya) and establishment of woodlots are improving the environment and restoring soil fertility.

"Establishing of community forests and Vetiver grass nurseries in order to conserve soil have changed the yields that communities harvest because they have adopted these approaches into their community practice," Jason said.

He said that, "AG Care's initiatives complement government efforts in poverty alleviation and uplifting livelihoods, and emphasized the project's alignment with the District's Development Plans (DDP) which is key in community's development and the district as a whole."

The project is being implemented in four Extension Planning Areas (EPA) namely; Makande, Katelera, Chinguluwe and Tembwe in TA’s Kalonga, Kambwiri and Chisamba.

One of the beneficiaries from TA Chisamba, Edna Kamtande hailed the project for assisting her to harvest better yields despite rainfall challenges.

She said incorporating locally made manure has helped her to have better yields because she was equipped with skills in coming up with the right formula and mixture of soil and manure.

Executive Director for AG Care, Brown Banda, expressed satisfaction with the project's outcomes, noting its sustainability and positive impact on communities.

"Project coordination is excellent, and communities are well-trained and enthusiastic about the programme's progress," he said.

Tearfund Country Director, Vincent Moyo, affirmed that they would continue providing support to AG Care as its implementing partner, in order to achieve the intended goal of enhancing the wellbeing and resilience of communities around Thuma Forest Reserve and Kuti Wildlife Reserve.

"I am impressed with the progress it has made in changing people's livelihoods and economic status," he said.

TA Chisamba affirmed the project's significance, pledging to ensure that communities acquire essential skills for sustainability as the project phases out of the area.

AG Care with funding from the Jersey Overseas Aid through Tearfund, is implementing CONSERVE Project in Salima district.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, April 16, Mana: Acting Director of Ministry of Information and Digitalization, Arthur Chipenda has called upon District Information Officers (DIOs) to equip themselves with skills which would enable two-way communication between government and the people to foster people’s participation in governments development agenda.

He made the remarks during the opening of a three-day training workshop at Mponela organized by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) and the Ministry of Information and Digitalization aimed at equipping DIOs with skills on reporting for radio.

Chipenda said the training marks government’s commitment to ensuring that communication was placed at the top of the government development agenda through local authorities.

“For most people, the first contact they have with government is through the district councils. And in councils, government is investing finances, implementing projects and activities for the socio-economic transformation of the people. DIOs must therefore ensure visibility of these for people’s participation.

“On the other hand, government needs to be getting feedback from the people. So, we want to strengthen the bridge so that if people have any issues concerning the government’s development initiatives or interventions, DIOs should provide that platform for appropriate government’s interventions,” he said.

Thanking NLGFC for supporting the training, Chipenda urged the DIOs to make sure public information was always available to the public in support of government’s developmental agenda.

Executive director for NLGFC Dr. Kondwani Santhe saId the team has the responsibility of promoting council’s accountability, transparency, and trust and a responsibility in changing wrong narratives which break public trust and confidence.

“Sometimes people will deliberately twist facts. For example, Community Development Fund has only K 5 million for bursaries which in normal circumstances is not enough for each need within the constituency.

“So, when all the money has been channeled towards bursaries, there may emerge narratives suggesting otherwise, thereby creating confusion and mistrust. Therefore, it is your responsibility to change these narratives by providing accurate information on all projects and government initiatives,” he said.

The training is being facilitated by Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

Director General for MBC, George Kasakula said this was an exciting development as it would mean more content for the corporation, the masses and help in opening councils.

“We are thinking of having a council bulletin which will be airing issues happening at the councils ranging from budgets, expenditures, programmes, and other social economic issues. So, we are very excited about this development.

“But for this to be possible, you as DIOs need to be active in this initiative. To my colleagues at MBC, let us work with the DIOS in good faith,” he pointed out.

DIO for Zomba, Solister Mogha said the training would help in expanding the reporting skills for the DIOs by equipping them with technical requirements and skills required in reporting for electronic and broadcast media.

He said would benefit both the DIOs and the people they serve.

“The training will expose us to a new dimension of reporting for radio and television as we have mostly been biased towards print.

“This is good for our professional development but also for the benefit of the people because millions of Malawians still depend on radio and television for information,” Mogha added.

By Paul Madise

Lilongwe, April 17, Mana: Director of Research Services in Ministry of Agriculture at Chitedze Agriculture Research Station, Dr Grace Kaudzu has said they are working collaboratively with other stakeholders to come up with new hybrid groundnut varieties to ensure groundnut industry in sustained.

She made the sentiments on Tuesday during the "Groundnut Tour in Malawi" a tour which is being conducted to showcase groundnut potential industry, Malawi has as a consistent and reliable high-quality groundnut for both national, regional and international markets.

Kaudzu has said the research would benefit mega and small scales groundnut farmers across country through climate change resilient varieties being produced through the research.

The Director has emphasized on the need for more interventions for Chitedze Research Station to generate more climate resilient groundnuts varieties and more hybrid groundnut seed multiplication.

 Pyxus Agriculture, Feed the Future Peanut Innovation Lab and Feed the Future Malawi Growth poles project as implementers of the tour is this set to achieve this year's one million metric tonnes of groundnut in its 2030 annual strategic plan putting Malawi on a pivotal role in meeting groundnut global market demand.

During the tour, lead farmers from  Horizon Farm, Chikondi Joseph and Franks Jictor said the coming of news groundnuts varieties has necessitated high production levels on their farms, they have also called Malawians to embrace groundnut farming for commercial to compliment tobacco.

The groundnut tour has attracted over 150 investors, researchers, farmers and policy makers from 10 across the world wide.