By Vida Msiyo

Blantyre, October 7, Mana: Malawi's young people have been urged to take an active role in environmental conservation efforts to help achieve the country’s sustainability goals. 

Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency on Monday, Chief Executive Officer for the Centre for Youths and Environment, Calvin Mataya said that the energy and potential of young people make them ideal for spearheading environmental activities such as cleaning cities, places they stay and tree planting. 

“Youths are the ones that are still energetic. Even though older people can do some environmental activities, youths can do that work much better. They can involve themselves in cleaning our cities, planting trees and a lot to do with the environment for a better Malawi. We must invest in our youth and provide them with the necessary tools and knowledge to lead environmental initiatives,” he said

In providing youths with necessary tools, Mataya said as the country there is a need to invest in young people because they influence their friends to do positive things in their communities.

“When youths are empowered, they can influence their peers and communities, creating a flow effect that can lead to significant positive change,” he added.

Environmental expert Mathews Malata also emphasized the importance of youth involvement, saying that Malawi is a country full of young people and there is a need to push them to act.

“Malawi is a country full of young people. Transformational leadership and development is when you can see how best to pass on knowledge from one generation to another, this is in the Malawi 2063 vision enabler 7, which emphasizes environmental sustainability,” he said. 

Malata added that youths play a key role in driving innovation and change as they act as a bridge for knowledge transfer, innovative leaders and agents of change.

“We cannot win if we focus on the same people who brought us where we are now. We need to target young people, some of whom are in secondary schools and universities so that they can be at the center of our transformation,” he explained. 

By Steve Chirombo

Dedza, October 7, Mana: Some beneficiaries of the Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP), in Dedza district have hailed the intervention saying it has enabled them to move from poverty to better living conditions.

Speaking during a tour conducted to appreciate the progress of SCTP, beneficiaries in Chief Chilikumwendo said they have made strides since they started benefiting from the programme.

Edna Henderson from Mphizi Village said unlike in the past, her family can now breathe a sigh of relief as they can eat good food and that hunger is a thing of the past.

“From the money I received from the programme, I invested some through joining the Village Savings and Loans (VSL) group. With time, my money multiplied which saw us opening a grocery shop and venturing into the sale of farm produce mainly maize,” said Henderson.

She added that from the proceeds, her family has managed to purchase two pieces of land where they are doing their farming activities.

Another woman, Ida Moffat from Chimutu Village said the programme moved her family from a grass thatched house to a better house she constructed on top of having livestock.

“We have a cow, goats and local chickens. These are proceeds from the cash we received. My husband is a butcher man and all this is possible because we utilize the cash we received properly,” said Moffat.

Nyadei Julius, plying restaurant business at Kabwazi Trading Centre in the district said she started with tomato business and that she can support her children’s education.

“For example, when I put in K20,000 I would get K15,000 profit while during market days I can get up to K120,000 after investing K50,000. I can confidently say that I am better than before,” she said.

In his remarks, Emmanuel Khumba, Social Cash transfer officer at Dedza district Council who is also desk officer for the programme said several beneficiaries will be graduating from the initiative after achieving the intended purpose.

“The over-role objective of the programme is to get the vulnerable families out of poverty. We believe that by the end of four years, there will be a great change in their socioeconomic status. We thank the government through other initiatives that are being implemented by FARMSE and other partners who are championing the graduation models. We hope that by the end of 4 years, 1500 households will be officially assisted by government to get out of the programme,” he said.

19,555 household beneficiaries are on the Social Cash Transfer Programme in Dedza district.

The program is being implemented by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) through the district council with funding from the Social Protection, Multi-Donor Trust Fund and the World Bank.

By George Mponda

Karonga, October 7, Mana: Disaster Risk Management Officer for Karonga District Council, Humphrey Magalasi, Monday said that 13,803 households are expected to benefit from2024/25 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme.

Speaking when he briefed Karonga District Disaster Risk Management Committee on the initiative, Magalasi said each household will receive a 50-kilogram bag of maize for three months each month.

"These 13,803 households represent a population of 62,114 who have been identified from senior traditional authorities Mwakaboko, Kilupula, Wasambo, Mwinuka, Mwilang’ombe and Paramount Chief Kyungu.

They will receive relief assistance from December 2024 to February 2025," Magalasi said.

He highlighted that prioritized in the initiative are child-headed households, homes with malnourished children and people with disabilities and the elderly among others.

Group Village Head Malema under Paramount Chief Kyungu hailed government for the initiative, which he said, would go a long way in addressing food insecurity in the district.

"A lot of people were affected by floods which hit the district early this year and they lost their household properties including foodstuff, so this is a very welcome development which will ensure households are food secure for the stated three months.

As traditional leaders, we will corroborate with village civil protection committees to ensure that only deserving beneficiaries are registered to benefit from this humanitarian intervention,” said Malema.

According to the 2024 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee Report, about 5, 700,000 people are expected to experience acute food insecurity with 553, 000 of these residing in urban areas from October 2024 to March 2025.

By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, October 7, Mana: Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola has commended Oxfam for promoting women's participation in agriculture and ensuring access to profitable markets for their produce.

Chithyola was speaking at Chaima in Kasungu District during activities that Oxfam and its partners organized to raise awareness of women's rights to agriculture.

The activities were part of the project called ‘Enhancing access to profitable and inclusive agriculture markets for smallholder farmers in Kasungu District’ being implemented by Circle for Integrated Community Development (CICOD) and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) with funding from the Flanders Government through Oxfam.

Said the minister: “I am impressed that this project has some focus on establishing market linkages to ensure that our farmers have access to profitable markets which is key to ensuring that they benefit from their work.

“As government, we are responsible for looking for off-takers that can provide profitable and inclusive markets. We will do everything to ensure they are good markets for our farmers.”

He encouraged farmers to get into cooperatives to increase their bargaining power for better prices of their produce.

“If you make cooperatives, you are better placed to bargain for good prices from off-takers and make more profits.

“We commend Oxfam for promoting this kind of approach to agriculture and we are aware of the huge impact this project has had on our farming households,” he said.

Gender Coordinator at Oxfam, Lindiwe Jere said there is a need to raise awareness of women’s rights by focusing on gender-based violence, child labour and social norms that affect women’s participation in agricultural production and access to profitable and inclusive markets.

“Apart from enhancing the capacity of smallholder farmers, particularly women and youths, to produce marketable and profitable agriculture commodities, we are also promoting gender transformative approaches to enhance equal participation.

“We are conducting campaigns to end violence against women and the use of child labour in the target extension and planning areas [EPAs],” she said.

Through the project, which is being implemented in Santhe, Chamama, Mtunthama and Chulu EPAs, farmers have been trained on new agriculture approaches, and marketing and have been given warehouses.

By Andrew Phiri

Balaka, October 5, Mana: Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) on Friday handed over MK38 million through Community Environmental Conservation Fund to 21 village level committee that restored 72 hectares of degraded land in Balaka district.

Project Technical Team Leader, Oswald Mulenga therefore urged MWASIP participating community members to be game changers in catchment conservation by adopting prudent use of financial gains beside practicing climate resilience and modern farming practices.

Mulenga, made the call on Friday at Group Village head Chiyembekezo, Traditional Authority Nsamala when handing over the MK38 million.

The project team leader expressed optimism that the MK38 million shared among members of the 21 committees will help members to generate more money by venturing into small scale businesses and organizing themselves into Village Savings Loans (VSLs) groups that will empower them economically other than indulging in charcoal production and other human practices that are not environment friendly.

“Research shows that every year we lose over 30 tons of fertile soil per hectare as evidenced by water gullies that are all over our fields and siltation in our rivers. All these are signs of deforestation and poor farming practices.

“Balaka is also one of the districts in the country that frequently experience dry spells and it is our plea that farmers here should use these funds prudently to get alternative sources of income rather than destroying the forests," he said.

He added that apart from the financial component in MWASIP, the project also provided extension officers with motor cycles to address mobility challenges during their extension work.

One of the Catchment Management Committee members from Namikombe area, Steven Banda, said that it was pleasing that MWASIP mobilized communities to adopt climate resilience and modern farming practices citing marking of swales, box ridges and check dams as measurers to regulate water flow.

“Chiyembekezo village level committee is among the 21 structures that managed to appreciate importance of restoring over 72 hectares of degraded land, We have received MK4.3 million and we pledge to use money prudently,” he said.

Chairperson for Balaka District Council, Pharao Kambiri, said was delighted to see active community participation in catchment conservation and applauded MWASIP for empowering the community members financially.

He said Balaka District Council will work closely with community leaders to enforce laws that shall stop further environment degradation.

MWASIP was introduced in Balaka in 2022 to restore over 10,000 hectares of degraded land in the Shire River Basin.