Government, donors urged to promote irrigation
The Asian Muslim Relief Aid (Amra) and the United Kingdom (UK)-based Drop of Compassion have emphasised the need for flood victims to explore winter-cropping and irrigation farming to move away from the culture of handouts.
The two organisations have been jointly distributing relief items to flood victims in Chikwawa, Nsanje, Phalombe and Mangochi districts since the tragedy struck the country early January 2015.
And speaking after donating [relief items] to 700 people affected with floods in Phalombe on Sunday, Amra volunteer, Abbas Panjwani, expressed fears of a possible entrenchment of the ‘culture of receiving’ among [flood] victims.
He said in partnership with Drop of Compassion, Amra has already started implementing projects aimed at promoting irrigation farming, winter-cropping and beekeeping in selected districts, including Mangochi, Dedza, Lilongwe, Salima and Mchinji.
Drop of Compassion trustee, Irfan Chhatbar, will raise funds among Africans living in the UK to go towards implementation of projects in areas affected by the disaster.
Amra—which committed K300 million to the procurement and distribution of humanitarian assistance to flood victims nationwide—has since disclosed that the budget will be revised upwards because “reports indicate that more people need our support”.
