Extension workers tipped on village action plans

Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture director of planning and policy Walusungu Kayira has advised extension workers in Mzimba District to align village action plans with Malawi 2063.

He said this on Saturday in Mzimba when he closed a four-day training for extension workers on how to develop village action plans.

Kayira said most Malawians are only familiar with construction of school infrastructure, bridges and health facilities.

“However, it will take your great facilitation skills to extract other great development ideas from the people they may be oblivious of, such as plans to have farms and industries in their areas. In short, let the communities’ plans be in line with Malawi 2063,” he said.

M’Mbelwa District Council director of planning and development Walter Chikuni said the district’s development plans expired in 2022.

“With funding from the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], we are rolling out the exercise to develop village action plans and projects to be implemented in the district in the next five years.

He also challenged extension workers to practise what they learned during the training to help formulate development plans that will benefit people in the district.

One of the trainees, Prisca Gondwe said the training equipped her with skills to facilitate the formation of village action plans.

The trainees also learned how to collect data using tablets.

The UNDP has funded the initiative to the tune of K150 million.