Public works to address Cyclone Freddy effects

Community members in Nsanje District have turned to Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme to restore the environment destroyed by Cyclone Freddy in 2023.

Nsanje is one of the districts prone to natural disasters such as floods and in March 2023, Cyclone Freddy-induced floods eroded the banks of Nyachipere, Malindi and other rivers.

Speaking in an interview on Monday when community members were constructing check dams along Malindi River in Traditional Authority Ngabu, Friday Welosi of Nyamatcherenga Village said water from the river destroyed properties during the cyclone in 2023.

He said: “Malindi River split and created another course, flooding people’s homes and fields in the process. Therefore, we are now working on redirecting the water to its original course.

“The check dams will also protect a primary school and the village as the rainy season progresses.”

Welosi said they are also reclaiming gullies for farming.

Another community member, Bertha Thebo from Chambuluka Village, T/A Malemia said the project has protected her garden from run-off water from Matandwe Hills.

She said the gully in her garden was created by Cyclone Freddy-induced rains.

Said Thebo: “We have planted trees in the hills and with the check dams constructed in the gullies, my garden is protected.

“I am certain that we have controlled the movement of water through the initiatives.”

Nsanje district land resource officer Jasmin Chamdimba said the programme’s activities were progressing well.

Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme is funded by the social protection multi-donor trust fund, including the World Bank.