The Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change has expressed excitement with the livelihood project the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing in Kasungu District.
Under the project’s first phase, community members in Traditional Authority Kaluluma in the district embarked on irrigation and fish farming to boost food and income security.
Speaking on Wednesday during the launch of the second phase at Chimalilo Primary School, the ministry’s Principal Secretary Yusuf Kongula applauded people who own the Climate Resilience Initiative Malawi (CRIM) project.
He said, “The project is important to people and to us the ministry as it is contributing to our strategies and objectives in conserving and managing the natural resources in the country.
We urge people to take full responsibility because they are the ones to benefit from it. I hope that the second phase will bring about greater impact.”
On her part, UNDP resident representative Fenella Frost said besides empowering people to become resilient against climate change shocks, the second phase will also focus on promoting local entrepreneurship.
She said, “During the first phase, people cultivated crops under irrigation, constructed ponds for fish and this improved good quality.
“However, we noted that farmers were facing challenges to find markets. That is why we are now geared to deal with this problem in the second phase.”
Kasungu legislator Mike Bango (Malawi Congress Party) said many people benefited from the project’s first phase.
“I urge the farmers to utilise opportunities in the second phase to eradicate hunger in the area,” he said.
The Government of Flanders is supporting the project and has pumped in 2.5 million euros (about K4.9 billion) for the second phase.
Source: The nation-Richard Kagunda-Malawi News Agency-11 October 2024