By Hope Chimwala

Blantyre, January 30, Mana: In an effort to restore the degraded environment, a youth-led non-governmental organisation called Big 2 Projects has planted 7,000 trees through its nationwide One 4 Five tree planting competition which was launched in December 2024.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Thursday, manager for Big 2 Projects, Blessings Mlelemba, said the competition, launched to encourage adoption of sustainable land management practices and initially targeted only farmers, now includes primary schools supported by DAPP.

“We received a request from DAPP to allow primary schools which they are supporting join the competition nationwide. We accepted the request as one way of equipping the youth at an early stage while in primary schools to start loving and caring for the environment, and currently 16 schools are already in,” Mlelemba said.

Mlelemba said the competition aimed at having more than 10,000 trees planted, adding that so far over 7,000 trees have already been planted and more will be planted as 286,000 trees were registered during the registration period.

“Over 7,000 trees have been planted in different districts. We are hoping that more trees than we estimated will be planted and over 70% of the trees surviving,” he added.

DAPP Project Coordinator Patrick Jafali said that they decided that their schools should join the competition as one way of teaching primary school learners their responsibilities in environmental protection.

“By the end of the competition, apart from winning prizes, learners will have been equipped with knowledge on how to take good care of trees hence making them responsible citizens in environmental protection,” he said.

Environmental expert and executive director for Coordination Union for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (CURE), Charles Mkoka, told MANA that tree planting projects empower communities to play their role in reducing climate change.

“These projects do not only address environmental issues but also empower communities to take ownership of their role in climate adaptation and mitigation,” he said.

The competition followed after the release of a book titled ‘Agriculture 100 YEARS from now’, which tackles much on climate change impacts on Agriculture, climate smart farming and environmental conservation.

The competition will end in April this year with K1.6 million spared for the winners.