After years of cutting down trees for firewood, thousands of residents of residents living at the foot of Mulanje Mountain in Malawi are replacing their hope in a mini-hydro system to power their district and save the vital forests.
Biziweki Makupe, 34, is a smallholder tea farmer and shopkeeper from Nkuta, a village just at the bottom of Mulanje Mountain. At this shop, he has always had trouble to market soft drinks: with no power he couldn’t keep them cold.
Recently, a new mini hydro-power plant is changing his business. But not only for him. Mulanje is one of southern Africa’s critical ecological hotspots and tourist destinations, is commonly referred to as an ‘island in the sky’ due to its smoke-like haze during foggy days.
According to Unesco, the Mulanje Cedar, Malawi’s national tree, is a key species found in the mountain high cloud forests and is listed as a critically endangered. Its timber is highly prized, but illegal unsustainable harvesting las led to diminishing forest cover.
Although large swathes of the forest reserve are now bare due to human activity, a local charity’s initiative is using a hydro-power initiative to empower the community to desit from cutting down trees in the forest. So far, it is bearing fruits.
Growing Trees
For Makupe and his neighbours, the mini hydro-power plant installed at the base of the mountain by a local charity, Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust, is helping them to keep the drinks cold among other benefits.
“I am seeing more customers now after buying a refrigerator. Apart from closing later because of the extend lights, I also run a barbershop which has increased my revenue base. My life, and that of my family has improved,” he said.
220-kilowatt mini-grid was funded by international donor agencies. Revenue from electricity sales contributes the cost of operation amd maintenance. Customers are connected to the grid via pre-payment meters.
“We have power because of the mountain. Other villages in the district don’t have this opportunity,” said Makupe.
The $3-million project has also brought people like Makupe to understand the key role of the mountain and interest to plant more tree has developed in the community.
Diness Sauka, 23, who dropped out of primary school, did not see the benefit of the mountain until recently. He recently got hired as a barber and he is now supports his family from the wages.
“At first I used to travel a long distance to find jobs, but now I am employed right here in the village. My life has chnaged now,” he said, bubbling with a smile. While he used to be involved in logging for a livelihood, his wages are now enough to support him. He no longer sees the need to cut down trees.
Sauka’s salary of K35, 000 is roughly equivalent to that of some informal sales people in larger townships.
Self-made power
“People were really excited because, at first, they would need to travel long distnces, sometimes getting up as early as 2am to access maize mills. Now, a mill nearby, the hospitaland primary schoos are being powered by the dam,” said Bertha Salima who heads the community committee managing the electricity.
Arnold Kaziponye, project coordinator for the Mulanje Renewable energy Agency which supported the project, said that even the students from the primary school are now performing better and the number of pupils has risen dramastically.
”Deforesttion was very alarming because most people depended on firewood and producing charcoal from the trees in the mountain,” he sid. Although the project started in 2008, the community only get connected in 2014.
Source: The Nation_25th June, 2020_by Charles Pensulo-Climate Tracker