Embrace conservation agriculture—diocese

Kolping Society International General Praes Monsignor Christoph Huber has asked the newly elected board of directors of Kolping Society of Malawi to work with farmers to embrace new farming technologies.

He made the call on Sunday at St. Michael’s Parish in Chitipa District during the inauguration of Kolping Society of Malawi in the country, whose goal is to help people have enough food.

Said Huber: “It is no secret that the world is going through harsh climatic changes due to various reasons which has affected farming and food production.

“As a result, this has adversely affected people’s spiritual wellbeing; hence, the need for Kolping Society of Malawi members to intensify awareness on the importance of using compost manure to restore soil fertility.”

Karonga Diocese of the Catholic Church Bishop Martin Mtumbuka urged lay movements in the diocese to advise people to adopt the use of organic manure.

“I expect the church’s lay movements such as scouts to be the first to embrace this before preaching the same to farmers,” he said.

In an interview, the newly elected Kolping Society of Malawi president Mercy Sichali said they conduct awareness campaign on new methods of farming.

She said: “Our task is enormous in the sense that it has come at a time Malawi is facing many calamities. We are experiencing a dry spell in Karonga District and parts of Chitipa.

“At the same time, Tropical Cyclone Freddy has ravaged parts of the Southern Region. This is the time to intensify awareness campaign on winter cropping.”

Karonga district director of agriculture, environment and natural resources Raphael Mkisi said the dry spell has destroyed 7 175 hectares (ha) of maize, 1 958ha of rice, 1 096ha of groundnuts and 49ha of tobacco in the district.

Kolping Society was founded in 1850 in Cologne, Germany by a diocesan priest Adolph Kolping and was embraced in Karonga Diocese in 2017.