People of Paramount Chief Kyungu in Karonga have commended the European Union (EU)-funded Kulima Project for improving their yields.
The project targeted the ultra-poor who could not afford fertiliser under Affordable InputsProgramme (AIP).
In an interview, Frank Mwakasungula from Chemu Village in the area said he had no money to buy fertiliser.
He said: “It was therefore a relief when I was earmarked for free fertiliser under the Kulima Project.
“I received 40 kilogrammes [kg] of Urea and 40kg of NPK fertiliser.”
Mwakasungula, who is also a community-based facilitator (CBF) in the area, said he expected to get a bumper harvest this year.
“On behalf of other vulnerable families in the district, I appeal to the EU to continue with the project,” he said.
In a separate interview, Karonga district chief agriculture officer Rita Makwakwa urged the beneficiaries to dry their produce properly to prevent it from rotting.
“Kulima project seeks to help farmers get sufficient food to improve their nutrition status,” she said.
Makwakwa also said beneficiaries can sell the surplus maize to earn money to buy other basic necessities.
The project instituted 30 lead farmers in the district. Each lead farmer oversees 30 other farmers.
The five-year project is being implemented in all traditional authorities in the district.
However, a crop inspection report that Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe presented to President Lazarus Chakwera in March this year, projected a bumper yield lending credence to AIP.
