People in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kampingo Sibande have embraced interventions under Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme to improve their crop production.
Under the programme, community members implement interventions in catchment areas such as making swales, constructing stone bunds, digging check dams and planting trees in depleted forests to restore degraded landscapes.
activities in Mzimba. I Joel Phiri
One of the participants, Abner Phiri from Chandodo Village in T/A Kampingo Sibande, said lessons from the programme will help people boost their crop production.
He said: “I will implement the activities in my four-acre farm to increase crop yield. For long, I have not been getting bumper yields because the land lost its fertility.
“Soil erosion, as a result of deforestation, affected crop yield. That is why I will grow trees, make swales and check dams to slow run-off water.”
Chiputa Catchment Area designated desk officer Wezzie Hunga said most participants have embraced climate-smart interventions.
“Since we started implementing the activities two weeks ago, the work is progressing well,” he said.
Mzimba district senior lands resource conservation officer Olive Nyalira urged participants to take the activities seriously.
She said: “The protection of land, water and soil is the foundation of higher agricultural yields in your farmlands.
“If we neglect conservation, our fields will continue losing fertility and harvests will decline. That is why these interventions must be treated with commitment and ownership.”
In her remarks, Mzimba district programmes officer Phunziro Jawatu advised the participants to aim at creating durable structures that will benefit them in the long term.
“These swales and dams should be long lasting. For instance, you create check dams so that they hold water in your farmlands to prevent soil erosion,” she said.
The district is implementing the programme with support from the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Fund.
