Nsanje District Council in partnership with Concern Worldwide has launched a K2 billion ecosystem project to restore depleted landscapes and promote climate-smart agriculture to improve food production.
The European Union-funded Ulimi ndi Chilengedwe (Uchi) Project will promote forestry restoration efforts in Masenjere Escarpment, Masenjere and Kalulu forest reserves.
| Martin Gela Jnr
On Tuesday the council established village natural resources management committees and customary land committees for 14 group village heads under Traditional Authority Mlolo in the district.
In an interview, Nsanje District Council Uchi coordinator John Kaweta Banda said their assessment found that people in the area used to harvest enough food but things have changed due to climate change shocks.
He said: “Now people are facing food insecurity due to climate change. So the project will support natural tree regeneration and scale up climate-smart agriculture practices.
“We will also register their customary land to prevent wrangles.”
In her remarks, GVH Namanya thanked Nsanje District Council and Concern Worldwide for implementing initiatives to restore vegetative cover in protected areas.
“I support the initiative and will encourage my subjects to support the council restore trees in our forests. These efforts will build resilience among communities,” she said.
The chief also encouraged her subjects to embrace climate-smart farming to ensure they realise bumper yields amid climate change effects.
A community member Steven Rice from Mulira Village said the project will help mitigate climate change shocks.
“In 2023, Cyclone Gombe affected our villages as water from Milole River destroyed houses. This was because we destroyed the forests. We will now work with the council to replenish the depleted forests,” he said.
Rice asked his fellow community members to avoid deforestation in the protected forests.
The four and a half years project will run from July 2025 to December 2029.
