Cyclone survivors turn to irrigation farming

 Smallholder farmers that were recently affected by Cyclone Freddy in Senior Chief Liwonde in Machinga District have turned to irrigation farming to beat hunger.

Through the initiative supported by the founder and leader of Living Word Evangelical Church Prophet David Mbewe, the farmers have grown maize and vegetables to ensure they have food during the lean season.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday when Prophet Mbewe toured Mangamba Irrigation Scheme, one of the farmers, Basikolo Phiri, from group village head (GVH) Ngongondo in the district, said they received farm inputs and were trained by the man of God.

“The cyclone washed away our crops and left us with nothing to harvest. We thank Prophet Mbewe for the initiative because it will give us a new lease of life as you know we cannot rely on handouts,” he said.

Phiri said the prophet also gave them treadle pumps, solar panels and sprayers to venture into winter cropping at the scheme.

On his part, GVH Mangamba commended Prophet Mbewe for the gesture, saying the initiative will save his subjects from hunger as a 50-kilogramme bag of maize is selling at K45 000.

“We need more of these initiatives if we are to arrest hunger. It is better to help people grow their own food instead of giving them handouts. I believe in three weeks the price of maize will decline here because these farmers will flood the market with their maize,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mbewe has urged government and other stakeholders to invest more in irrigation farming, saying the country has the potential to produce more food through irrigation.

“If we empower farmers to embrace irrigation farming, we will solve the problem of hunger,” he said.

 ,