Latest from Malawi Initiative
A major step to combat child trafficking has been introduced in Malawi. The country is to introduce compulsory birth certificates for the first time since independence.
Malawian children have no documents to show when they were born. With the issuance of birth certificates, the country is looking to address problems in the areas of child trafficking, child labour and child adoption.
Under a registration system conducted by the national statistics office and sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), nine of Malawi's 28 districts will be the first to introduce birth certificates.
PLANTATION NEWS
The month of February was very unusual as far as weather is concerned. Unlike any other February when there is a combination of plenty of rainfall, sharp afternoon sunshine and humidity build up; this year rain poured continuously, and when there was no rain the weather was cold and over cast with lower temperatures and less humidity. This has affected the growth of tea and lowered down the quantum of crop being harvested than expected.
Pruning (rejuvenation) of the field is in progress. Quite a few of the workers have been diverted from pruning in order to reduce the load on harvest. Pruning is being done with the help of machines, and as such dropping the need for workers by 75% on this operation. The expansion of the new tea block has been completed successfully. Work is being carried out on the field to conserve the soil by mulching the young plants which will go on till April before the rains slow down.
CHADONGO DAIRY FARMING GROUP
The group started in 2003 by an organization called the Land”O”Lakes to develop a new dairy project to support the villagers in Chadongo and make it a self-sustainable project. The group of villagers in Chadongo welcomed the idea; and on assurance from Land”O”Lakes started making Kraals using locally available materials. This included constructing the fence, roof frame and dried grass for the thatching of the roof. The cattle were supplied by the organization. The organization during the inoculation days promised to bring 100 cattle for the dairy project. But when the day arrived for the villagers to have the cows, only two were supplied and were given to Mr. Tobias Chirwa and Mr. Swede Gama.
A total of 60 villagers initially registered with the Chadongo Dairy group with the agreement that when the cows start breeding each member will be provided with the off spring to benefit from the project, as explained by the Chairman Mr. Soloman D. Mphande. The organization also sold the idea to the villagers of molding and burning bricks locally for use in construction of the offices and for keeping the milk storage tank. However, the hopes did not last for long. With only two cows and no sign of the Land“O”Lakes it was evident that the project will not grow as expected the members started withdrawing themselves from the group and the numbers started falling down.
REVIVAL OF THE PROJECT
With the Land “O” Lakes becoming defunct, the Chadongo Group decided to take the matter into their own hands and gradually increased the number of cows year after year. Today, after a period of four years there are twelve cows and the initiative is now running the dairy with the existing group of members with hopes of developing the project to benefit all who are in the village.
Milk Production: Mr Soloman D. Mphande explains that the intial project management was a tough task as there was very limited knowledge on the type of feed to be provided to maximize the yield per cow. But over the years with trial and error, the feed intake improved; and today each cow produces approximately 21 litres of milk per day. To provide more milk, the cows are fed with 80-90 kgs of Senjere or Gautamala grass with maize husk (gaga) and 20-30 litres of water per day with salt added to it, and the feed is divided into three portions given during the day.
Market: The concept behind the development of the dairy project was that Land”O”Lakes will buy the entire production from the project. But since the organization is no longer involved “we sell our milk to the local people in the villages and to the people living in the company compounds at MK50 per litre” said Mr. Mphande.
Future Plans : The group currently transports the milk to the users daily as there is no place where the milk can be stored and if this is not done, there is a threat of milk getting spoilt. It is to be sold on a daily basis even if it means to travel by foot to ensure that the milk reaches the buyer while its fresh. However, this does not always go as planned and there are days when some quantity is left unsold. The group has plans to have a storage tank with which they can preserve the milk and avoid from it getting spoilt. It is also exploring for a big consistent market or an organization that can buy the production for a agreed period of time. Mr. Mphande also says that they want to expand the farming to have cows for each member in order to supply more milk to the buyers and have their own milk production factory. “If this happens the organization will employ many more villagers and alleviate poverty”, at the mean time the active members are only 20 percent of the initial 60 registered.
Current Limitations: The Chairman says that the main problem is inadequate finances to complete their plans of having good and clean Kraal (Khola) for the dairy cows. Lack of resources to construct a milk tank, need for more trained farmers and lack of market (for supply growth) are other key issues. Furthermore, the group needs organizations to access loans for purchase of cement and chemicals (medicines) for the cows.
The committee consists of 12 members of whom Mr. Mphande is the Chairman, Mrs. Costa Nkhata -The Secretary and Mr. Peter Msuka the Treasurer with 9 other committee members.
Mr Mphande also mentioned that some members who were much interested in joining the group did bring cows on their own these were Mr. Faliji (VH), Mr C. Chikopa, Mr Town Longwe.
Mr Soloman D. Mphande explains that in addition to the dairy farming he also rears sheep and goats, 6 and 3 respectively and is a good farmer of maize, tobacco and cassava. The income is used to fund his children’s school fees and as savings to build a big house with iron sheets in the future.
PROJECT WORK
With the growing recognition of the forest participatory project being implemented in partnership by Kawalazi Estate with Mars Drinks, other corporations have shown interest like TOTAL. With all this support they will be able to grow and distribute additional quantity of saplings. This month the distribution of the plants has commenced and in the first week almost 30,000 plants were distributed, with another 62000 in the second week. The plants are to be distributed to approximately 30 villages and it has also been decided to further expand the distribution to the schools.
Awareness program on planting more trees and to increase the drive on reforestation in the neighboring area was done at the Kawalazi Primary school, with the idea of beginning planting with the school children who would each look after their own plants and spread the message of reforestation by deeds and not only words was the basis of this program.
Nearly 100 saplings were planted by the school children and the Management of Kawalazi on behalf of Mars Drinks, the Total representative and the Village Chief of Chinyakula to begin this seasons planting. This was supported by a cultural event organized by the school children that included traditional dances and songs.
On the Clinic Project, the expansion of the existing clinic is being carried out this month and the equipment for the new clinic has been purchased. Once the expansion work is completed, the equipment will be set up at the clinic for its use within the next month.