By Manasse Nyirenda

Rumphi, February 10, Mana: Rumphi District Council has urged communities at Chitimba in Traditional Authority Mwamulowe to take ownership of Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (Life AR) programme in order to address climate change induced problems in the area.

District's Forestry Officer, Gift Nyirenda said this during the launch of Life AR Tree Planting season at Chitimba Primary School in Sub Traditional Authority (STA) Chiwiriwiri.

He said the programme has the potential to address challenges people in the area have been experiencing such as flooding.

Nyirenda also said several interventions will be implemented by the communities to mitigate adverse effects of climate change including tree and vetiva grass planting and construction of a 300-meter dyke along Kahewe-Bogolo River to protect people's fields and homes.

"The project will also provide fruit tree seedlings including bananas, oranges. It also comes with a goat pass on programme. People in this area depend on fishing, but the catch is no longer the same.

"They are catching less and less fish. We hope the goat pass on programme, bee keeping and fruit tree seedlings will give them an alternative to fishing," said Nyirenda. 

Paramount Chief Chikulamayembe, urged communities around Chitimba to take advantage of the project in order to restore degraded land.

STA Chiwiriwiri said in recent years they have been experiencing a lot of flooding which has been destroying their crops and homes.

The district received at least K450 million under Life AR to implement a three-year project focused on addressing impacts of climate change.

The project takes a community led approach in which the communities themselves identify and implement activities with the council providing expertise where need arises.