Chikwawa District Council has encouraged people under social protection projects in the district to embrace the interventions to build resilient homes and communities.
The call comes after the council observed that some community members do not understand the importance of taking part in interventions meant to conserve the environment.
The Malawi Government with support from the World Bank and the Social Protection-Multi Donor Trust Fund is implementing the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) in the country’s 28 district councils, including Chikwawa.
The social protection initiative, which rolled out from 2020 and will run up to 2027, includes components such as Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) and Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP).
In an interview yesterday, Chikwawa District Council public relations officer Leah Malimbasa said they are conducting the awareness to enhance understanding of the safety nets.
She said: “We are using mobile vans with a public address system in trading centres and markets, facilitating engagement and dialogue meetings with communities to explain the continuous implementation of CS-EPWP and address questions on electronic payment processes.”
Malimbasa also said they are reminding beneficiaries under the SCTP to utilise the money prudently as it supports household welfare.
The council’s CS-EPWP project facilitator Chifundo Makhumula Thungwa said they have advised CS-EPWP participants to take ownership of interventions such as afforestation, reforestation, gully reclamation, construction of stone bunds and check dams to restore degraded landscapes.
“People should not doubt anything, including payments. They should participate in the project because the benefits are good,” she said.
A CS-EPWP participant Masauko Pensulo from Traditional Authority Masache, said he acquired goats after receiving money under the initiative.
“The greatest reward for me is that we have replenished soil fertility in our area and we hope to realise bumper crop yield,” he said.
The SSRLP has reached out to 3.7 million people in the country.
