Villagers restore Milare spaces

Every weekend, some Blantyre City residents seeking fitness and wellness, walk or jog up and down the Chikwawa Road. Mostly, the trek starts from Milare, past the Kamuzu View, down to Madziabango, which borders the district with Chikwawa and to Thabwa.

On the way back, some continue with the walk, while others board minibuses back to Milare.

A few years ago, nature enthusiasts going up and down that trek would note the pace at which deforestation was going on the slopes of the many hills that dot the road. One would think that the area was a microcosm of the findings of the International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa (Ianra), which in 2022 predicted that if the current deforestation trend in Malawi is not controlled, all trees would be stripped by 2079. The statistics showed that the country loses 33, 000 hectares of tree cover every year, due to charcoal burning, wood production, burning bricks, settlement and agricultural expansion, as a result of rising population and high energy costs.

These days, the story is quite different, as reforestation efforts are taking ground. Driving just after Madziabango and branching eastwards for a kilometre or so, you find Chepuka Village, which is in T/A Somba’s area in Blantyre. Here the reforestation drive is self-evident.

The village headman, looks back at the hard days. “People were cutting down trees wantonly. As a result, we have seen devastation where we have lives in floods, crops and livestock have been washed away, with some of our houses swept away. We also noted that our harvests were going down, as the soils became more and more infertile and surface run-off was evident,” says the chief.

He acknowledges that today, things have changed, as his subjects protect forests as individuals and under the Chepuka Forest Management Committee.

Some of his subjects, Lines Kunjira, Gertrude Jaki and MacJohn Phiri, affirm things are getting better, as they are now planting more trees, using better sustainable ways to get money and better energy-saving methods to cook in their homes.

Kunjira, who is the committee’s secretary, recalls how the Bilila Stream that runs through the village dried up. “I remember when we were growing up, the river used to be the source of water in the area.

Things changed when it used to dry up soon after the rains. That is when we learned that that was primarily due to deforestation.

“Over the years that we have been planting trees, we have started to draw water from the river and some are using the same river for irrigation,” she says.

This year, she says, it has been hard with the erratic rains, due to the El Nino phenomenon, which has made planting more trees a hustle.

She emphasizes: “It is hard this year. Our maize, pigeon peas and vegetables have wilted. There is no food in the homes and if our children are going to school, it is just because they are getting porridge there. Nonetheless, we are still tending the seedlings in our nursery, which we will plant in our communal and individual forests.”

On his part, the 60-year-old Phiri says in the past he used to thrive on charcoal burning. Not anymore. These days, he has planted trees in his garden, where he has also placed beehives to source some income. “Over the years, I have learned that cutting down trees for charcoal burning is not sustainable. For four years now, I have been planting trees in my garden and I know my children’s future is safe,” he says, with a beaming and energetic face. For Jaki, a mother of three, in the past she used to go far to fetch firewood and when she brought it home, it never lasted long, as she used to cook on a fireplace where a pot rested on three stones, known locally as mafuwa.

“It was tiresome walking the distance to get firewood. Besides, cooking on mafuwa consumed more wood, and at times my children could easily get burned. Apart from having my own woodlot, I also use a stove that we were taught to make. It is much faster to cook and doesn’t consume much wood. Besides, the heat lasts long,” she said.

But what has brought about all this mindset change?

The committee chairperson Maluwesi explained that it all started 10 years ago, when Fisherman’s Rest, a private accommodation business near Milare, along the Chikwawa Road, embarked on Fisherman’s Rest Community Projects (FRCP).

“They have been providing us tree seedlings and engaging with us to create nurseries, which we have planted in our individual woodlots and the communal forest. As a group, we have strict by-laws for anyone found cutting down trees along the Bilila River bank and the communal forest. Things have changed,” he says.

According to project coordinator Augustine Mtamila, with funding from the Welsh Government, through the Wales and Africa grant scheme, FRCP works with local communities and government forestry extension workers, to restore landscapes and mitigate the effects of climate change in Blantyre rural and Chikwawa. “In addition to receiving conservation education and nurturing trees in nurseries, communities have learned to make clay efficient ovens, which are constructed using unburned bricks, mud and water.

“These are easy to maintain and use small amounts of wood or maize stalks, reducing firewood consumption by approximately 70 per cent,” says Mtamila.

He adds that FRCP provides fruit trees, coppicing varieties and species that improve soil fertility, like nsangu (faidherbia albida) and gilisidiya (gliricidia sepium).

“Subsequent use of these trees helps improve soil fertility and reduce reliance on inorganic fertilizers, which are expensive. In the end, crop yields increase and hunger is reduced. The communities are also trained in nursery management and long term protection of existing and planted trees,” says Mtamila.

According to Milare forestry extension worker Frank Messa Chepuka village is one of the shining examples of the 12 villages he works in. He says he has been working with the villagers for the past eight years and the trainings are yielding results.

“Apart from planting natural and fruit trees and managing their own nurseries, we are also encouraging the communities to practice regeneration of natural forests. In the beginning, the villagers were reluctant. We hope when the forests are fully grown, they will be able to practice bee-keeping at a higher level,” says Messa.