Neno district agriculture office has commended Link Community Development for promoting irrigation farming in Traditional Authority (T/A) Symon to build resilience among communities against prolonged dry spells.
Lisungwi Extension Planning Area agriculture extension development officer Mark Tandaude said farmers who embraced irrigation farming under Climate Just Communities Project have achieved food and income security.
He said: “Farmers in nine irrigation schemes received solar pumps and capacity building [training] in modern farming technologies.
“Again, 600 farmers received goats under a pass-on programme.”
Tandaude said the solar pumps will improve food security in the area which is prone to prolonged dry spells.
“We are impressed with the interventions. Our office will continue supporting and supervising famers to get bumper yields,” he said.
A beneficiary, Dyson Solomon from Ngaiyaye Village in T/A Symon, who is also a member of Chifude Irrigation Scheme, said irrigation farming has improved the well-being of his family.
“I no longer rely on rain to grow crops,” he said.
Solomon said each scheme member contributes K10 000 to meet the cost of repairing the pumps or buying pesticides for their crops.
Link Community project officer Samuel Phiri said the two-year project phased out in February this year, but has built community resilience to climate change shocks as well as promoted skills and knowledge to sustain livelihoods.
He said the project focused on livelihood, disaster risk management, water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) and building resilient schools.
“Apart from promoting irrigation farming and the goat pass-on programme, we have also installed potable water facilities in schools and communities, renovated damaged classroom blocks and teachers’ houses and planted 90 000 trees,” said Phiri.
On his part, T/A Symon urged households who benefitted from the goat pass-on programme to pass the animals to other beneficiaries.
Neno is one of the districts which experiences droughts
