By Arkangel Tembo

Blantyre, March 25, Mana: Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare has reaffirmed its dedication to enhancing Early Childhood Development (ECD) services in an attempt to bolster the foundation of the nation's education.

Blantyre District Social Welfare Officer, Bertha Chidzalo Salamu emphasized the importance of this initiative during a graduation of ECD educators in Blantyre on Wednesday.

“The nature of this field necessitates exceptionally trained individuals who can nurture our youngest minds,” Salamu stated.

However, the scarcity of qualified ECD care givers and educators looms as a significant impediment.

Salamu acknowledged the Ministry’s collaboration with various tertiary institutions, including Hope Community Development College, to cultivate a cadre of professionals’ adopt in early childhood teaching.

“We are laying the groundwork for a brighter future, one child at a time,” said Wezzie Mkandawire, Director of Hope Community Development College.

Mkandawire said his institution stands in the forefront of this educational revolution, partnering with the government to foster a generation of well-trained professionals.

"These educators are not only poised to serve across the nation but also to spearhead the establishment of new learning Centre’s, catalyzing job creation in the process, " added Mkandawire.

One of the graduates, Olga Alice Agla, shared her transformative experience saying: “The training has been an eye opener, equipping us with the tools to make a lasting impact in the lives of our little children.”

With over 200 ECD teachers already trained, Hope Community Development College pledges to continue its partnership with the government, striving to elevate the calibre of human resources dedicated to early childhood education.

The partnership promises to shape the trajectory of the nation’s educational landscape, ensuring that children are not left behind in the journey of education.

By Martin Chiwanda

Machinga, April 24, Mana: Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) has installed submersible water pumps at Shire River intake at Liwonde in Machinga to sustain water supply to a population of over 70, 000 following the swelling of the river which has submerged its initial plant house at Kamuzu Barrage in the district.

Speaking on Tuesday, SRWB Liwonde Zone Manager, Nzeru Banda said the board organized a media tour so that consumers should appreciate supply capacity of the newly installed pumps

He added that the newly installed machines have increased water supply from 1,800 cubic meters per day to 2,500 cubic meters per day.

“As a board, after noticing that our main intake has been submerged in water, we thought it wise that we install submersible water pumps so that the water supply should not be challenged in such situations. The newly installed water pumps have increased water supply to 2,500 cubic meters per day from the initial 1,800 cubic meters per day,” Banda said.

He disclosed that SRWB was geared to roll out the Liwonde-Balaka Water Supply Project this July with funds from European Investment Bank (EIB) to upgrade water intake at the Liwonde Barrage.

“Once the project completed, it will serve 400 000 people in Liwonde and Balaka with a water supply capacity of 10 000 cubic meters pay day,” said Banda.

By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, April 25, Mana: Director of Planning and Development for Kasungu District Council, Annie Zimba, has challenged supervisors of the Climate Smart Public Works Programme (CSPWP) to ensure that conservation works being done meet expected standards.

She made the call in Kasungu on Tuesday during an orientation of Designated Desk Officers (DDOs) that will supervise the programme activities in the district’s four newly established conservation catchments.

Zimba said there are huge sums of money being injected into the programme activities hence the need for the supervisors to ensure that the assets being created as part of the conservation activities reflect the investment made.

“We don’t expect to see any shoddy work in the catchments. As DDOs, you must be on top of things ensuring that we deliver quality work.

There must be value for the money that is invested in the programme. So we should not see a casual way of doing things that will reflect badly on the council,” she said.

Zimba said the increase in the number of the programme participants should also translate in more conservation works to restore the district’s degraded landscapes.

Kasungu district is enlisting 7.730 additional participants following the establishment of new catchments, increasing the district’s total participants from 15,802 to 23,532.

Speaking on behalf of the DDOs, Area Extension and Development Officer for Santhe Extension Planning Area, Time Natani said the orientation will help to equip the field staff with vital knowledge that would assist them to make the programme successful.

He said: “We are very ready for the show. The new catchments are big and will require our total dedication to duty. This is work that we must take seriously because the conservation assets that we are creating will not only help us today, but also the generations that are coming.

“We can learn from the other catchments where already there has been massive restoration of forests resulting in reduced runoff in agricultural land and increased infiltration of water which has helped to improve the water table and reduce soil erosion.”

As part of the programme activities, participants are involved in creating assets such as soak pits, marker ridges, gully reclamation and planting vegetative cover to reduce runoff and encourage infiltration of water to retain moisture in the soil.

CSPWP is a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme which is funded by the World Bank and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

By Rennie Tembo

Lilongwe, April 24, Mana; Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) says it is geared to support households which were affected by heavy rains and strong winds with cash so that they rebuild their homes.

Speaking on Tuesday in Lilongwe during a stakeholders meeting, Emergency Operations Coordinator for Malawi Red Cross Society Louis Solomon said they are committed to support 88 households that were affected by heavy rains and strong winds by restoring their damaged shelters.

“Our paramount objective is to respond to humanitarian needs of the affected population, as such each household will receive MK150,000 strictly for shelter rehabilitation and 20,000 people will be reached with health and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene related interventions to ensure continued consumption of treated water.

“We know this might not be enough but we believe that any little amount can bring big change if put in good use and we are trying our best to mobilise resources from our donors to reach or help more households,’’ he said

Solomon further said in order to avoid giving cash to undeserving households, MRCS will give the cash in phases, to make sure that the beneficiaries are using the funds for the intended purpose.

He said to achieve the objective of the initiative, MRCS will involve all the relevant structures at district and community level throughout the entire operation.

Lilongwe District Disaster Risk Management Officer Anganile Kalonga hailed Malawi Red Cross Society for the support saying it will alleviate the challenges of the affected households.

“We are very grateful for the support by MRCS to the affected families, this will assist them to recover from the impacts of the heavy rains and strong winds and enable them build back their lives,’’ she said.

Kalonga then urged other organisation to emulate MRCS’s gesture by assisting the affected households with different interventions.

The initiative will run for three months to the tune of MK979 million and will be implemented in three districts namely: Lilongwe, Karonga and Nkhotakota

In Lilongwe the initiative will be carried out in T/A Chitseka and T/A Kalolo.

By Kondwani Magombo

Lilongwe, April 25, Mana: At the age of 84, Veronica Sintchaya has a deceiving gait and agility of a 50-year-old. She's a retired teacher, having bidden farewell to chalk, board, and duster in 1996, three years after she lost her husband in 1993.

Upon retirement, Sintchaya went to settle at her home village, Chimpesa, Group Village Headman Kumitete, Traditional Authority Onga, Chiradzulu, where she's a member of a small scale farmers’ club called Nthambi.

During a recent media visit, the octogenarian’s shared secret to her enviable fitness, even at 84: “A balanced diet, comprising the six food groups and, most importantly, a ‘decent’ breakfast in form of porridge.”

But during the 2023 consumption year, Sintchaya did not have the luxury of having as much balanced meals, and as much ‘decent’ breakfasts due to Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which eroded the old woman’s cropland away and left her with too little to live on.

“It was one of the worst disasters I’ve ever witnessed,” explained Sintchaya. “Most of our crop fields were washed away just a couple of weeks ahead of harvesting period.”

The senior citizen was not alone in this predicament; scores of people in her village, and Chiradzulu as a whole, suffered the same blow and they were left with very little, or nothing at all, for their survival.

But this 2024 consumption season, Sintchaya, like many others in her club, is among thousands of smallholder farmers in the district who have beaten the El Nino odds and they have harvested enough maize to get them beyond the next consumption year.

The old woman, alone, has yielded 20 bags of the staple grain, including yellow maize, and she is happy to have restored her favourite breakfast back on the daily menu.

All this abundance is courtesy of Crisis Response Initiative (CRI), a one-year window that the government of Malawi successfully created in 2023 with funds from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

The project is initially aimed to support 73,850 rural farmers (among them 50 percent women, and 25 percent youth) that were highly affected by the Tropical Cyclone Freddy in three Sustainable Agriculture Production Programme (SAPP) districts of Blantyre, Balaka, and Chiradzulu.

According to the project’s documents, IFAD pumped US$5.06m (MK8.68bn) into CRI to complement government’s effort of ensuring that the targeted rural farmers are able to access inorganic fertilizer through the Affordable Input Programme (AIP).

The development saw the identification and formation of clubs in the affected areas through the Ministry of Agriculture structures, for them (clubs) to access fertilizer, seed (maize, soybean, and maize), and livestock (goats, chickens and rabbits), depending on assessment of individual club members’ needs.

The 20-member Nthambi Club got six bags of fertilizer (three NPK and three Urea), and 100kg of maize seed, including thikinya (yellow maize).

Since the fertilizer was not enough for the 20 members, with the help of Martha Sitolo, Agricultural Extension Development Officer (AEDO) for Thumbwe Extension Planning Area (EPA) under which the Nthambi Club falls, the club produced more bags of organic fertilizer popularly known as Mbeya.

“From the three bags of NPK, and the three bags of Urea, we produced 15 bags of NPK, and 15 bags of Urea, and we shared amongst ourselves such that each member got 35kg of each type of fertilizer,” explained the youngest member of the club, Chimwemwe Bakali, 23.

Like Sintchaya, the oldest member of Club, Bakali, a form 3 student at Masalani Community Day Secondary School in the area, has, this 2024 consumption season, harvested 20 bags of maize from a 0.5ha piece of land using the Mbeya fertilizer.

“I’m very excited with my harvest,” explains Bakali, who had been left to look after a family home and siblings in 2023 as the parents were residing in Blantyre where they were working.

“Before the Cyclone, I used to get a maximum of 15 bags from the family’s total cropland, most of which was affected by Cyclone Freddy. After the cyclone, last year, our yield dropped to less than 5 bags, but with the use of Mbeya this year, I’ve harvested 20 bags of maize, just on a 0.5ha piece of land!”

Such stories of success are also shared by the rest of the members of Nthambi Club, including the chairperson, Rhoda Kazembe, who also speaks highly of the Mbeya fertilizer and accompanying new technologies that the AEDO, Martha Sitolo, equipped them with.

Elsewhere, within Thumbwe EPA in Chikamgwere Village, GVH Kumitete, TA Onga, members of another club, Mlambe, have all the reasons to stand and walk tall as the groundnut seed they received from the CRI project has promised a good harvest.

According to the AEDO, every member was given 30kg of groundnut seed which can give each one of them at least nine bags of shelled groundnuts.

One such happy members of Thumbwe Club is Maria Yakobe who is expecting to get not less than 10 bags of shelled groundnuts from her 0.3ha piece of land.

“The 10 bags of shelled groundnuts will give me a lot of money, enough to enable me buy a number of bags of fertilizer and multiply it using the Mbeya method, and make a kill of a harvest next year,” Yakobe outlines her plans.

Some clubs under Thumbwe EPA received goats while some got chickens in a pass-on program to reach out to as many rural farmers, who were affected by Cyclone Freddy, as possible.

According to the Sitolo, the clubs are all doing fine and the benefits of the CRI project are in plain sight for all to see.

“We are also training the club members to go into loans and savings practice so that, come next growing season, they should be able to buy more fertilizer and other related inputs with the proceeds from the savings,” explained the AEDO.

According to Director of Agriculture Services (DAS) for Chiradzulu district council, Cyclone Freddy washed away 14,000ha of the district’s 50,000ha cropland; thousands of livestock; property and lives.

Over 3,000 hard-hit households from the district’s three EPAs; Thundwe, Mombezi, and Mbulumbuzi, were identified to participate in the CRI project, and they have all registered success in their various interventions – be it livestock, or crops, according to Zingeni.

“The households that are participating in CRI’s various interventions are doing fine,” explained Zingeni. “For instance, we are expecting a yield of 4,000MT of maize from CRI participating households – that is on top of the estimated 30,000MT of maize that we are expecting from the district as a whole,” he added.

Within the additional 4,000 MT of maize that CRI households will contribute to the district’s grain stock is the 1MT (twenty 50kg-bags) for the 84-year-old Sitnchaya, the oldest member for Nthambi Club.

Perhaps, the little contribution – yet huge at individual level – explains the excitement that Sitchaya displayed on the day the media team visited the Club,

“I’m short of words: With my plentiful thikinya stock, I’m able to take my breakfast porridge every day, and this has also improved my sight!” explained the senior citizen of Chimpesa Village.

“Cyclone Freddy left us in dilemma, but CRI has rescued us: the new task that we have, now, is to consume the food that the project has heaped on us!” said the old woman lightly, her face awash with joy.

By Robert Nayeja

Nsanje, April 24, Mana: Authorities in Nsanje have expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Bangula-Marka railway construction project.

Nsanje District Commissioner Dominic Mwandira said there is good progress and people in the district were geared to have project completed on time.

"The project is expected to open up a lot of business opportunities in the district once completed and people are happy to see that the project is taking shape," Mwandira added.

Mwandira, therefore, appealed to the communities to continue providing support to the contractor so the project should be implemented smoothly.

Senior Chief Chimombo also echoed Mwandira's sentiments, saying the economic status of his subjects has improved as some people have secured casual work at the project site.

"Those that have been employed by the contractor are able to support themselves and their families. We know that once this project is completed there will be a lot of activities taking place that will empower communities at large.

“There will be cargo from Mozambican port of Beira coming here to Malawi. This project will benefit all Malawians, not only the people from Lower Shire," Chimombo added.

Chimombo said the construction of the railway line has driven many to engage in various economic activities in the district as people are investing in construction of lodges and other businesses.

"People of Nsanje would like to thank President Lazarus Chakwera for making this project a reality.

"I'm very delighted that the project is making good progress and this will help to revive the lost economic glory of our beloved district," Chimombo added.

Group Village Head Ndenguma concurred with Chimombo, adding that the damage of the railway line fueled poverty in the district.

"In those days at least four trains were coming to Nsanje and four trains were leaving Nsanje before the civil war in Mozambique broke out. I recall that I used to go to railway station to see the train. There were a lot of business activities taking place at the station," Ndenguma said.

He added: “Some people were sailing clothes from Mozambique and others were selling chickens and goats. In fact, it was a market day when a passenger train was coming to the district."

Ndenguma, therefore, appealed to communities to take ownership of the project and refrain from theft of construction materials.

Government is constructing a 72-kilometre railway line in the district, which is connecting to Mozambique, a project that is designed to end within 18 months.

By Fostina Mkandawire

Salima, April 24, Mana: Construction of a K47 million school block at Thundu Primary School in Salima district has increased the number of learners who will be learning in classrooms, a development which will improve the quality of education.

Thundu Primary School block project is being constructed under the District Development Fund (DDF) at the school which is located on the outskirts of Salima town in Group Village Headman Daniel under Traditional Authority Maganga.

Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency on Monday, Headmistress for the school, Elizabeth Ndelemani, emphasized that the development will enhance delivery of quality education at the school.

"Learners were deprived of their decency by learning under trees; their notebooks and clothes were mostly dirty due to sitting on an untidy place," she said.

She said learners were being distracted during lessons more especially during rainy season, a development which was affecting performance of learners.

"Our capacity has increased because we have classrooms that can house about 1,249 learners’. In the past we used to refer other learners to a school that is about 20 kilometers from this community, a development which posed a threat to their security and safety," she said.

On his part, Salima District Council's Director of Education, Youth and Sports, Alfred Hauya, highlighted that quality education cannot be fully actualized without having adequate classroom blocks, emphasizing that the construction of classroom blocks will assist the learners to attain quality education.

"The education sector appreciates efforts towards infrastructural development in schools. Taking into consideration that Salima is a hot district and prone to flooding, learners cannot attain quality education by learning under trees," he said.

Chairperson for Thundu Primary School's Parent Teacher Association, Emmanuel Lifa, said as parents they were worried of the welfare of their children because they were not learning in a conducive environment.

"When we were informed as parents of the construction of this school block, we welcomed the idea and we were part of the processes of the construction by assisting in drawing water for the constructors and also ferrying building blocks," he said.

School Management Committee Chair Sophia Mayere said as a committee that oversees that the school's property is well taken care of, they will ensure that the school block and other facilities are properly maintained and protected from vandalism.

Mayere further commended the commitment that the surrounding communities showed during the construction of the facility, saying it signified ownership of the project.

Upgrading of Thundu Primary School commenced in January 2023, and the school block consists of two classrooms furnished with 30 desks each and two administration offices, among others.