Johnston Village in Traditional Authority Simlemba in Kasungu is now a model village in climate resilience following many years of grappling with the effects of climate change.
The feat by community members in the area is courtesy of Kasungu District Council Climate Resilience in Malawi Project.
In an interview, group village head Johnston, who has seven villages under him, said community members were not able to grow crops for consumption and for sale because the soil was degraded.
“We now have an irrigation scheme. We have a community woodlot where we hang 50 beehives,” he said.
Lonely Chirwa, a community member, said the prospects of dealing with climate change effects are promising.
“We reclaimed the degraded soil in our fields by applying manure. We now expect to get a bumper harvest,” she said.
Speaking when she visited Johnston Village, Environmental Affairs director Hannah Kasongo said she was impressed with people’s commitment to addressing effects of climate change.
“You know where you are coming from and where you want to be. Definitely, this will help in achieving what you want,” she said.
Kasungu District Council director of agriculture and natural resources Patterson Kandoje urged the communities to continue working hard.
“What you are doing is commendable and keep it up, development follows where people are working hard,” he said.
The four-year project implemented by Mzimba and Kasungu district councils and supported by United Nations Development Programme seeks to enhance adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities to the impact of climate change.
Source: The Nation_August 21, 2020_Vincent Khonje-MANA