EAM decries lack of extension workers

Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) in Karonga District has said lack of extension workers in the communities is slowing down agricultural production.

The remarks were made on Monday at Chikutu in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kilupula where EAM initiated a charter awareness meeting with the communities on various services offered by the agriculture sector in the district.

EAM project officer Tunsume Mwaibasa said a lot of farmers have no capacity and knowledge on new and modern agricultural technologies due to the gap between the farmers and the agricultural department because extension workers are not adequate.

“There are no extension workers in communities to teach farmers about the changes and new agricultural technologies that are emerging. As a result, farmers are still following the same old farming practices; hence, which affects their crop production,” he said.

Assistant district agricultural development officer Zikonjani Chivunga commended EAM for the initiative, saying it has given chance to the communities to gain knowledge on various services offered by the sector.

“However, our challenge as an office is that we don’t have adequate extension workers. The district was supposed to have 53 extension workers but we only have 27,” he said.

EAM is implementing the right to food project in T/A Kilupula and Paramount Chief Kyungu’s areas to enhance food security for women and youths in Karonga. Danish Church Aid is funding the project up to 2020.