Hunger and poverty deepened as crop yields kept dwindling in Fred Usiwa’s farmland, where racing water scraped off fertile soils on its way to the nearest stream.
Land degradation was vivid in gullies measuring about two metres deep.
In 2022, the farmer relocated from Munlo Village, Mulanje District, as he could no longer produce enough maize to take him to the next harvest.
“Water running down the slopes washed away topsoil and my crops, leaving my family of nine in perennial hunger. Oftentimes, we had to replant, but the second crop wilted in the scorching sunshine,” says the father of eight.
The rural area under Traditional Authority Ndanga was also prone to flooding.
The gullies grew wide and deep, shrinking the crop field and eroding the foundation of his home.
Usiwa and her six neighbours abandoned their eroded homesteads and crop fields two years ago in search of peace of mind.
He laments: “The gullies and chronic flooding destroyed our lives and belongings. We moved to save our lives.
“Due to deforestation, even normal rainfall induced floods, which have become more frequent and disastrous with climate change.”
World Food Programme of the United Nations reports that rampant environmental degradation makes Malawi susceptible to climate-related disasters such as drought and floods that erode people’s resilience and trap them in poverty and hunger.
In 2022, Usiwa’s rural community embarked on integrated land and watershed management activities under the Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme, a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project funded by the World Bank through the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC).
In 2024, Usiwa and his neighbours returned to their land and their crop fields are flourishing with bumper millet, sunflower and maize.
They attribute the turnaround to the landscape restoration activities that helped reclaim the gullied farmlands.
Usiwa and other poor labour-constrained households, who were enrolled in the public works programme, have erected rain-harvesting structures such as check-dams, eyebrow basins, deep trenches and swales in their fields and open grounds.
They have also established stone bunds on slopes, planted trees on bare land and renewed forests where stumps have been left to regenerate without human disturbance.
“The earth-scraping runoffs and floods have become history as the structures slow down and sink rainwater into the ground. My harvest is rising,” says Usiwa.
Sofina Chikwame feels lucky to have embarked on climate-smart agriculture methods introduced by the programme.
The farming techniques that help farmers yield more from their small plots amid climate change include manure use and mulching for crops to withstand prolonged dry spells.
“We have reduced the cost of production by making Mbeya manure using locally available animal waste, ash and crop residues. Soil fertility is being restored and crops are thriving,” she says.
The gains have motivated Chikwame and his community to conserve the environment and sustain the interventions for sustainable food security.
Group village head Adyanyama has developed community by-laws to protect trees and complement the restoration of degraded landscapes in the rural locality.
“We’ve had enough,” he says. “We don’t want gullies to emerge once again. We want our households and community to be resilient to climate change,” he says.
Kamwendo agriculture extension development officer Star Nyaka says the programme has helped people appreciate the benefits of conserving the environment for sustainable incomes and food production.
“I’m pleased because people are embracing farming methods that not only help them withstand the impact of climate change but also harvest more from their small crop fields. The benefits encourage them to reclaim the gullies and protect the watershed,” he says.
Nyaka asks NLGFC to expand the climate-smart public works to other gullied areas for greater benefits.
