Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada has supported at least 300 fish farming households in Mzimba District with relief food during the lean season.
Each beneficiary received a 50-kilogramme bag of maize, beans and a pack of cassava and sweet potato vines for planting.
Speaking on Monday during the distribution at Chikangawa Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Mzimba, the organisation’s country director Gerald Maulidi said they observed that fish farming demands commitment, energy and beneficiaries’ active participation.
“It would be difficult for farmers to adequately manage rigorous integrated husbandry operations at their demonstration pond sites on
an empty stomach. Hunger can lead to poor work output, high default rates and malnutrition, which ultimately derail the project’s objectives,” he said.
Maulidi said activities at pond sites include feeding fish, tending vegetables and managing livestock, all of which require the farmers’ full attention.
He expressed optimism that the food support will strengthen unity among cluster members and enhance shared responsibility in managing the projects.
A beneficiary Lea Tembo of Makazi Fish Farming Club in Manyamula EPA, described the donation as timely.
She said many households in the area were facing food shortages and were at risk of harvesting premature maize to process flour to save her family from starvation.
“This support will help us preserve our maize crops and focus on our fish farming activities without worrying about what to eat,” said Tembo.
Mzimba district fisheries officer Andrew Saukani commended the assistance, saying it was a unique and strategic intervention for fish farmers who were facing hunger.
“This food donation, extended even to the most vulnerable, will likely minimise fish theft from ponds as everyone will have something to eat,” he said.
The organisation is implementing the Integrating Aquaculture-Agriculture to Combat Food Insecurity in Malawi project in Mzimba, Thyolo, Zomba, Dowa, Ntchisi, Rumphi and Chitipa districts
