People team up to restore soil fertility

People in Mzimba have vowed to work hard in interventions put in place to restore degraded landscapes in the district.

The activities, implemented under Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme, are entering a third phase this year in all district councils in the country.

Under the programme, participants in catchment areas construct stone bunds along hills, dig deep trenches, install check dams and make swales to control run-off water and prevent soil erosion. Other activities include planting trees to replenish vegetative cover.

To ensure improved crop yields, communities in Traditional Authority Mpherembe have started implementing some activities.

In an interview on Tuesday, Chasamba Catchment Area designated desk officer Alfonso Chindungwa said communities have embraced the interventions upon noticing their benefits in conserving the environment.

“The third cycle is progressing well. More people are participating in making stone bunds and contour ridges and we believe at the end of the designated 24 days, we will complete the work,” he said.

Chindungwa said people have high hopes of getting bumper yields next growing season as the interventions are replenishing top fertile soil.

In a separate interview, Mzimba District desk officer for the programme Olive Nyalira appealed to participants to take the activities seriously as they hold the key to adding nutrients to soil.

“Since we rolled out the third cycle two weeks ago, participants are already on the ground implementing activities to reclaim gullies and regenerate natural trees,” she said.

Nyalira said communities from 19 catchment areas are taking part in the interventions.

She said agricultural productivity is linked to fertile soils and favourable rainfall.

The programme is under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project funded by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund and the World Bank.