Community of Sant’Egidio Dream programme national coordinator Kondwani Phiri has urged community members in Traditional Authority Machinjiri in Blantyre to grow local varieties to improve their nutrition status.
He said this on Saturday in Blantyre during the Growth and Resilient Agriculture for Sustainable Society (Grass II) open day.
Said Phiri: “We created 50 vegetable gardens together with people living with HIV so that they become farmers in special vegetable gardens because we are dealing with organic agriculture. We want to promote the use of organic manure, agro-ecology and biodiversity.
“We encourage people to adopt local crops because they do not contain chemicals unlike hybrid crops.”
Grass II project international coordinator Davide Brambilla said apart from improving people’s health, local varieties also protect the environment.
He said: “Local varieties are nutritious and are also related to culture.
So once you protect local food, you are also protecting local culture.”
Blantyre district agribusiness officer Thoko Mwape said organic farming practices do not only enhance food security but also help farmers save money.
One of the farmers, Bettina Mussa from Machinjiri described the project as a game-changer.
“The crops are nutritious and have improved my health status,” she said.
The Community of Saint’Egidio and Slow Food are jointly implementing the Grass II project in Blantyre, Mangochi, Machinga, Balaka, Dedza and Dowa districts.
