5,000 households to benefit from Sustainable Agriculture Program in Rumphi
By Manasse Nyirenda
About 5,000 households in Rumphi are expected to benefit from a five-year Sustainable Agriculture Program which will be focusing on improving rural livelihoods through climate change adaptive agricultural practices.
Introducing the program Thursday to Rumphi District Executive Committee (DEC), Projects Coordinator for Biodiversity Conservation Initiative, Fredrick Chisanga, said the program is expected to improve food security and nutrition besides enhancing economic empowerment amongst the households.
Chisanga said activities under the program will employ diversified tools to achieve the desired outcomes.
“The program will also promote climate smart agriculture, climate change adaptation through tree planting, use of energy-efficient cooking stoves, small scale irrigation, livestock production and agroforestry among others.
“We will also train farmers in financial literacy so that they should know how to invest and save money,” said Chisanga.
He said activities under the program have been aligned to national policies and programs such as Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) 111, which recognises agriculture as a priority area and Malawi 2063 pillar, one which focuses on agricultural productivity and commercialisation among others.
On his part, District Agricultural Development Officer for Rumphi, Lumbani Msiska said the climate change adapted agricultural technologies will mitigate droughts, floods and prolonged dry spells among other advantages.
District Youth Officer for Rumphi, Misheck Musokwa, asked implementing organisations of projects such as Biodiversity Conservation Initiative to ensure that the youth also benefit from the program.
About 26, 000 households from Ntchisi, Machinga, Mzimba and Rumphi will benefit from the K311 million five-year program.
The program is funded by Development Fund of Norway through Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
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