By Vincent Khonje

Mchinji, January 31, Mana: The community in Mikundi Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Mchinji is experiencing a life-changing transformation as modern toilets replace outdated facilities, thanks to the efforts of Assemblies of God Care (AG CARE) an implementing partner of Sustainable Food System for Rural Agriculture Transformation and Resilience (TRANSFORM) programme.

One of the key aspects of the project involves providing sanitation entrepreneur training and deployment, resulting in skilled artisans constructing modern toilets across the EPA, including schools.

Benson Friday, Deputy Head Teacher at Chitunda Primary School, shared the impact of this intervention on their institution.

Friday said: "We faced challenges with pit latrines covered with trees and later concrete slabs, both proving to be neither durable nor protective as they could usually collapse, but the introduction of modern toilets called Corbelled or 'Mwamuna apumule' in 2022 by an AG CARE-trained artisan brought a positive change. These toilets do not only fill up quickly but are also cost-effective and environmentally friendly, eliminating the use of trees."

Binton Katengeza, a trained artisan from Mtenje Village, highlighted the life-changing impact of the project on individual lives.

"After receiving training, I approached the Village Development Committee (VDC) to share information about modern toilets, now, I construct these toilets for schools and individuals, and earn a sustainable income that is transforming my life,” he said.

Ganizani Chirindanji, WASH coordinator in Mchinji, emphasised the importance of the project in addressing challenges affecting hygiene and sanitation.

“In Mchinji there is one problem of water logging that is a challenge to hygiene and sanitation, so most toilets collapse, but Corbelled toilets are recommended and improved latrines that take time to fill and do not collapse easily,” said Chirindanji.

The benefits of the project extend beyond schools, reaching communities and individual households.

Takondwa Phanga, AG CARE Programmes Manager, outlined the comprehensive approach of the TRANSFORM programme, reaching 5,160 farmers in Mchinji.

“The micro-investment component we are implementing also includes providing safe water, promoting hygiene and ensuring good nutrition. This involves constructing shallow wells equipped with hand pumps, rehabilitating boreholes, and training artisans to build modern toilets,” said Phanga.

TRANSFORM project, is funded by Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Dan Church Aid (DCA.

By Gift Chiponde

Lilongwe, January 30, Mana: Minister of Lands, Deus Gumba, has urged the newly recruited District Land Registrars and Land Clerks to execute their jobs professionally.

Gumba made the remarks in Blantyre on Tuesday during the official opening of the orientation for land clerks and land registrars.

The training is being offered by the Malawi School of Government.

Government, through Ministry of Lands, facilitated recruitment of 34 District Land Registrars and 319 Land Clerks to help in dealing with lands issues in district councils across the country.

Gumba said the recruitment of new staff in the ministry will help government improve service delivery at local level and embrace decentralization.

He urged the newly recruited officers to take the training seriously and execute their duties with competence.

"I want to have well trained officers who are conversant with Malawi land laws and regulations. It is my expectation that once these officers are inducted, I will have well trained officers who will assist to champion the country’s development," said Gumba.

Secretary for Lands, Devie Chilonga, said land in Malawi is a very big issue in all the 35 councils hence recruiting the officers is a big achievement which will make a difference in all the councils on how to settle land matters.

Chilonga has advised the trainees to embrace discipline during their training and has instructed officials from Malawi School of Government to report any case of indiscipline.

"For all those who will not be serious with their training please inform management of Ministry of Lands so that we can discipline such officers accordingly," said Chilonga.

By Maria Tembo

Ntchisi, January 30, Mana: Ntchisi District Council, through the office of Disaster Risk Management, plans to distribute relief maize to 6,418 hunger stricken households across all the district’s Traditional Authorities (TA) in the 2023/2024 lean period.

Acting Disaster Risk Management Officer, Jeremiah Chirwa, told Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Tuesday that the council has so far reached out to 1,709 households with the relief maize.

The Council is conducting the distribution exercise from January to February 2024.

Chirwa advised beneficiaries against abuse of the relief maize cautioning imprudent use and selling of the donated items.

“I would like to advice beneficiaries not sell the maize as this would lead them to being scrapped off the beneficiaries list and their names will be replaced by those who deserve to benefit.

“Even though the exercise is not reaching out to all the affected households, the initiative is good and timely cushion against hunger shocks because people in the district are suffering,” said Chirwa.

In a separate interview, one of the beneficiaries, Laitoni Chatonga concurred with Chirwa saying the initiative was for their own good and selling the relief items would frustrate government’s efforts.

He said: “It will be sad and unfortunate if some of us will be involved in selling these items because our families’ survival depends on the same.”

The exercise follows a Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report released in July 2023 which projected that at least 4.4 million Malawians are to face hunger during the 2023/2024 lean period.

By Thandie Dyvacy Chinthambi

Mzuzu, January 30, Mana:  Mzuzu City Council (MCC) says rehabilitation works of Target Road in Mchengautuba Township awaits funding amidst people grievances about the current condition of the road.

Speaking Tuesday in an interview, Spokesperson for MCC, McDonald Gondwe, said the council understands the grievances raised by road users, but was quick to say that the council was doing its best to address the problem.

“The road is indeed important as it connects residents of Mchengautuba to various locations within the city, so we understand their concerns as genuine. But we currently do not have resources to fix the road.

“As a council, we are already in the process of rehabilitating some roads within the city and once we acquire the funds, we will extend the road rehabilitation works to the road in question,” said Gondwe.

In his remarks, one of Mchengautuba residents, who is a bicycle taxi operator, John Moyo, said operators find it hard to ply their business on the road due to its poor condition.

“It becomes difficult to conduct our business, especially when it is raining as the road is muddy and full of potholes. May the council please consider doing something on this road,” Moyo said.

Another resident, Regina Sitima, said the road’s conditions worsen especially during rainy seasons.

“The road becomes slippery and we risk being involved in bicycle taxi related accidents. We will be grateful once this road is rehabilitated,” said Sitima.

By Memory Kutengule Chatonda

Blantyre, January 30, Mana: Department of Forestry says there is need for more stakeholders in nurturing the newly planted trees as the department cannot handle the task alone.

Speaking when the Malawi Tourism Council, along with students from the Malawi Institute of Tourism, planted 1,000 trees in Michiru Forest Reserve, the department's forestry officer Lonjezo Kalema said although there are partners with the Council in tree planting, there is need for more stakeholders to jointly take care of the trees.

“During forest season which runs from December 15 to April 15, many companies and institutions help us to plant trees. However, there are fewer institutions that team with us to see that trees are growing, protecting them from bushfires and humans.

“Institutions should take the responsibility to see that trees planted have grown to maturity,” Kalema who represented the Southern Zone Forestry Manager said.

She expressed concern that people from areas around Michiru Forest Reserve are refusing to take ownership and are still cutting down trees in the reserve without care.

National Tourism Council Taskforce Chairperson, Matthews Mfune, said they were moved by saddening stories of how Michiru Forest Reserve is fast losing forest cover.

He said the Council plans to reach out to communities around the reserves on tree care and nurturing.

By Steve Chirombo

Dedza, January 29, Mana: Member of Parliament (MP) for Dedza North, Savel Kafwafwa, has emphasized the need for more cassava farming interventions to ensure a household has food throughout the year.

Kafwafwa made the remarks when he led distribution of cassava cuttings to over 500 households at Senior Chief Tambala court in Dedza district on Monday.

He said hunger has been the story of each passing day in the area hence his intervention to ensure a more sustainable means of ensuring that households have something to eat every day.

“If you listen attentively, you will notice that the hunger stories are almost the same year in year out. And I thought it is now time to consider some more sustainable means because maize is more demanding. One needs new inputs every season,” he said.

The MP added that maize farming is weather sensitive such that if anything changes in terms of weather, people suffer while cassava farming survives any weather and keeps multiplying itself thereby benefitting others in the process.

“So, that is why for our areas, specifically Dedza North, we feel that growing cassava on a large scale will help us defeat hunger. For others who may grow maize, let them do that aside of having cassava which is something that is sustainable and dependable,” stated Kafwafwa.

The Dedza North legislator, who pumped in K1.5 million for the intervention, further said both weather and soil in the area favour cassava growing and that it is his vision to make the constituency famous for cassava growing.

“Our vision is that each family here should have 120 plants of cassava because that formula is equal to four months cover of one plant a day per household. And we are appealing to other well-wishers to come and help us because we feel we have found a formula of completely eliminating hunger in this area,” he said.

Senior Group Village Headman Chibwana Mlozi, who is also Senior Counselor for Senior Chief Tambala, said hunger situation in the area is dire, adding, unlike in the past when people relied on mangoes and other fruits, communities are currently hands tied.

He hailed the MP for the strategy, saying it diversifies farming methods in the area and that any family that does not heed the call risks being disciplined.

Some of the beneficiaries, Manuella Thomas and Mussa Kausa, expressed gratitude at the initiative, saying cassava farming does not need much and is a great relief when it comes to hunger. They both promised to multiply the stems so that others also benefit from the same.

Dedza District Principal Agriculture Officer Lana Chikonkheni said currently, 15 percent of the households in the district are facing hunger. She, however, said the families have coping mechanisms; for example, doing some casual labour or being assisted by their neighbor’s which she said are not sustainable ways.

“One of the sustainable ways is what we have witnessed today where hundreds of families have received the cassava cuttings. Naturally, these do not need much labour which will be simple for families that are run by females or child headed.

“This initiative will go a long way in improving welfare of the households in the area and Dedza as a whole because the tuber itself can be sold, so too are the stems and the leaves. On top of that, these are hybrid; something that gives us an assurance that within six months, communities here will start harvesting,” said Chikonkheni.

By Wongani mkandawire

Nkhotakota, January 29, Mana: The Ministry of health, has received medical equipment worth about 800 million kwachas from the United States of America through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

A press statement released on Monday says, the equipment which has been donated under the Momentum Tikweze umoyo project would assist frontline health workers in the districts of Karonga, Nkhotakota, chitipa, salima and Kasungu in offering better maternal health services.

USAID Acting Mission Director Michael Rossman said the American people through USAID, are committed to investing in Malawi’s primary health care services in order to help build a healthy population at the Centre of Malawi’s 2063 goals.

He said the US government is a proud partner of the government of Malawi and they will help equip healthcare workers with the skills and tools to save lives.

The equipment which has been donated through the project which is being implemented by AMREF health Africa, includes oxygen concentrators and cylinders, examination couches, delivery and patient beds, blood pressure machines, newborn resuscitation stations and machines for vacuum assisted delivery.

Speaking on behalf of health facilities that received the support, Director of health services at the Nkhotakota district hospital, Dr Jacob Kafulafula expressed hope that indicators on health services delivery will improve in the five districts with the coming in of the essential medical equipment.

Momentum Tikweze Umoyo is implementing a multi-billion-kwacha project in five targeted districts of Karonga, Nkhotakota, Chitipa, Salima and Kasungu.