By Beatrice Bangula

Blantyre, July 17, Mana: Communities of Group Village Head (GVH) Kunthembwe have advised to restore degraded land and adhere to modern and environmental friendly agricultural practices.

MWASIP Technical Team member, Boniface Kaulembe said this Tuesday at Kunthembwe Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Kunthembwe during the launch of Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) at Blantyre.

He said communities are expected to adopt conservation agricultural practices and should help to increase their food production for sustainable livelihood.

Kaulembe He said MWASIP objectives include mobilizing communities to carry out activities to do with sustainable land management that are meant to increase food production and at the same time conserve and protect the environment.

“With such objectives, we are today launching activities so that farmers should continue doing activities that should help to address land degradation,” he added.

Communities at Kunthembwe in Blantyre rural are expected to participate in afforestation, conservation agriculture and other related activities that are meant to restore watershed in the area.

“There are a lot of activities which MWASIP is promoting ranging from afforestation to manure making and other practices that are meant to restore degraded land to conserve water,” Kaulembe said, adding that farming communities are encouraged to practice homestead farming which promote issues to do with nutrition.

“We are encouraging farmers to use manure from livestock so that they should apply in their homestead gardens,” Kaulembe added.

Director of Agricultural Services for Blantyre District Council, Edward Katunga said land degradation in form of soil erosion is going out of hand that needs urgent intervention to check the trend.

He commended MWASIP for launching watershed management at Traditional Kunthembwe’s area and expressed hope that communities would adopt correct practices that should help to address land degradation.

“We hope, we will achieve sustainable practices in afforestation and other agricultural practices that will address issues to do with land degradation,” the Director added.

Senior Chief Kunthembwe said the launch was relevant saying his subjects would learn a lot from MWASIP activities which are expected to promote catchment management and other environmental and agricultural related activities.

“The launch has come at the right time and I hope that my subjects will learn a lot of activities. We have seen how manure is made and have seen importance of swalles which keep water in the gardens,” he added.

MWASIP encourage communities to rear small and large livestock at household level for food nutrition and for cost effective soli improvement.

The launch at Group Village head, Kunthembwe provided an opportunity for community members and other stakeholders in agriculture and environment sector to showcase a lot of activities such as making and use of energy efficiency stoves that are meant to discourage overdependence of large volumes of firewood at household level.