By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, November 28, Mana: Some participants under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS - EPWP) in Dowa have hailed the programme for transforming their livelihoods.

One of the youthful participants 32-year-old Bless Kashamba from Chinkhwiridambwe under Kaphirisiwa catchment in Traditional Authority (T/A) Nkukula, said since joining the environmental conservation programme in 2022, he has managed to achieve what he could only dream of.

He said he realised his dream of livestock farming whereby he used money he received as capital.

"In 2023, after receiving some of my wages, I invested by buying a goat. As of now, I have four goats and I know the numbers will continue growing, this is something I had dreaming of," he said.

Kashamba added that sometimes proceeds from goat sales valued at K60000 each also help him in taking care of his family, and buying school uniforms for children.

He however said apart from getting money from the project, the project has also helped in land conservation.

When starting the project, he said, most of the environment in the area was degraded saying a lot of trees had been lost due to careless cutting down of the trees.

This he said affected crop production as yields were low because of loss of soil fertility resulting from soil erosion.

“But under the project, we started implementing water conservation activities like constructing infiltration pits at Kaphirisiwa Hill. We are also constructing swales in our fields which help trap rain water.

“As a result, our crops are always healthy even if there are little rains because the soil is usually moist. For example, this past growing season I managed to get 40 bags from the same piece of land which I usually used to get 20 bags from. This has improved our food security," he said.

Thokozire Nkule from Chipeka catchment in T/A Mponela, said issues of heavy rains due to climate change also affected their crop yield.

She said that even applying fertilizer to their fields, high levels of running water and soil erosion resulted in loss of the fertilizer from the soil because most of the land was bare.

But she said this is now a thing of the past due to land conservation activities.

Also, she added saying under the programme, they have also been oriented on village loans and savings (Banki Mkhonde).

“We have also been empowered on how we can run Banki Mkhonde. Under this, we have also been encouraged to start small-scale businesses which some of our members now are engaged in. This has helped in improving our livelihoods," she said.

Director of Planning and Development for Dowa District Council Mercy Mpakule said the programme has benefited a lot of people in the district, whose participation is now pegged at 23000.

"Throughout the five cycles, we have been implementing the project, we have seen people's lives changing, Many people here depend on farming, so when they receive the money, they also invest some of it in their farming activities like buying fertilizer, seed, and other farm-related activities.

"Also, because some of the sub-projects are being implemented in people's farms, it is helping in land conservation. Again, participants are learning how to make organic manure, and all these have improved soil fertility and crop yields," she said.

According to her, during the inception of the programme, 63 hotspots were identified and 191 subprojects were identified to be implemented in the hotspots.

The CS-EPWP is funded by the World Bank and the Multi Donor Trust Fund.