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conservation agriculture

Concern Universal Poster Presentation at CABMACC launch

Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change is a programme which is coordinated by Lilongwe University of Natural Resources (LUANAR) aimed at strengthening the teaching, training, research, technology development and outreach in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The programme was officially launched by the Minster of environment and climate change management on 4^th December, 2013. Concern Universal was given a chance to present its work through posters to allow learning for the CABMACC programme as well as to learn from other presenters. The function was also graced by the Ambassador of Royal Kingdom of Norway, Principle Secretary for Environment and climate change and official from Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Agriculture sectors.

POSTER PRESENTATION

CU presented posters that highlighted the following aspects;

Goal: Creating Opportunities for Lasting Improvements in People’s Lives

Strategic Objective 2: Reducing Vulnerability through targeted interventions to enhance community resilience to climate change and increase agricultural production

Agriculture sector:

•      promotion of climate smart agriculture (conservation agriculture, agroforestry, irrigation farming, beekeeping, livestock management and post harvest management)

Water and health sector:

•      Provision of potable safe water through construction of bole holes, promoting sanitation and hygiene, distribution of nets (Climate change has effects on health as this may result in increased cases of malaria, cholera and diarrhea)

Forestry and Energy Sector:

•      Capacity building & establishment VNRMs, VFAs and stove production groups, promotion of afforestation and energy saving stoves

•      Capacity building and promotion of electrical generators for charging lights and phones using heat from efficient biomass cook stoves

RECOGNITION

Because of the relevance of CU’s work on climate change management, it was recognized as the third best poster presenter at the function.

OPPORTUNITIES

Through attending the CABMACC launch, CU was requested to share with LUANAR some of its publications for use by students at the University, hence CU’s programs may influence policy, programming and a number of other areas at national level. CU project staff may have the opportunity for short courses in climate change management at the University. The Minister pointed out that she is confident that the stoves will assist in dealing with deforestation and can be liked to REDD+ initiatives

MZUNI ORGANISES STUDY TOUR TO A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

Mzuzu University conducted a study tour for its students in Masters of Transformative Community Development at Bolero EPA which has been selected by the University as a Community of Practice[i] in a drive to familiarize the students with the challenges that the communities are facing and how they are addressing their problems.

According to Dr Bennet Mataya, the Principal Investigator of the Masters program, the study visit was organised in order to enhance the understanding of the students in the Community of Practice (COP) concept which is one of the 6 core modules.

During the tour, the students learnt from the communities that ‘Bolero’  which means  ‘fertile’ used to be  rich with green vegetation, but today the land is bare and  the rivers have gone dry  due to Climate change. Bolero EPA lies in the west of Rumphi ,has over 11,000 farming families according to the Agriculture Extension Development Coordinator, Rex Mwenitanga.

The impact of Climate change

The impact of climate change in Bolero cannot be overemphasized. The  erratic rainfall, the environmental degradation,  deforestation which has  heavily affected  most women as they now  have to travelling long distances to fetch firewood,  the acute hunger with 15 out of 33 households running out of food stocks, this was evidenced by malnourished children staring at the students hoping that they would give them some food items, these are just a few of the examples of how Bolero has been affected with  climate change..

When asked how the communities are coping, some said they doing some piece works, so that they can earn income and buy food for their families. While others have already started reducing the number of meals from three meals to one meal.

What happened to Bolero?

When asked what caused Bolero to become bare land, some said  it is climate change but the majority said they have contributed to the negative change because of their over dependence on tobacco which uses trees for flue curing. Although the farmers grow maize, beans, cassava and keep livestock, their major source of income is through tobacco earnings.

But do women see the benefits of growing tobacco as men do, the question was paused by one of the student, Program Manager for CADECOM, Melina Mtonga. A woman responded immediately and revealed that most men leave their families after they have received money from tobacco sales and they usually come back home when they have spent lavishingly mostly on beer and extra marital affair. At the end of the day the woman is still expect to prepare food for the family

Intervention by government and NGOs

Despite interventions by some NGOs in promoting energy saver stoves, to address deforestation, the stoves are not enough for all farming families. Although there are some interventions being done by different organisations working in food security, climate change, sustainable agriculture, conservation agriculture and irrigation, the problems in Bolero are still enormous, and the communities’ need innovative approaches to deal with their problems.

The lack of coordination of some NGOs

 While government is promoting the decentralisation process, some NGOs are by passing local structures such as Village Development Committee and Area Development committee, when they are bringing development initiatives which is partly affecting the participation of the communities due to lack of engagement of the key stakeholders .

The communities Intervention to climate change adaptation

There are some efforts being done by the communities, in order to address deforestation. In Chilakata Village, T/A Chikulamayembe,  Village Head Chilakata is leading the communities in afforestation activities with support from Total Land Care. The villagers started planting trees in 2010 and currently the VH is distributing the seedlings to individuals. It is hoped that the communities will continue to plant more trees to restore the green scenery in Bolero EPA.

The students’ highlights

The Masters  students, 13 in total are coming from different sectors: Non Governmental Organizations, Government and private sector. The president of the Masters Class, Esther Chirwa said the visit was very important and has helped them to come up with proposal ideas for their research paper.  Another student Chikondi Butao Banda, a Rural Development and Community Mobilization Facilitator from Dwanga Cane Growers said that the visit was an eye opener to the COP concept . “ I really enjoyed the interaction with the communities,” Banda said. The students envisage a continued partnership beyond the Masters program  that will result into the Transformative Engagement Network ( TEN)  so that together they can contribute towards the  transformation of communities in Bolero and  to the nation as a whole.

According to the Masters Program Coordinator for Mzuni, Dr Victor Kasulo, 83% of the population is rural and 34% of the rural population is vulnerable to hunger due to climate change.

 “The Masters program is designed to enable those who work with vulnerable communities to contemplate the change that is needed in how they currently work and in shaping new ways of working that are responsive to the needs of the vulnerable communities.” Said Dr Kasulo

The Masters in Transformative Community Development is a foundation of the TEN hunger Project which seeks to enhance the capacities of universities to better serve the needs of small scale food producers as they cope with climate change. The project aims at transformative engagement between practioners, policy makers, decision makers and COPs in the areas of climate change and food security. The program is a newly introduced program at the Mzuni’s Faculty of Environmental Sciences under the department of Forestry. It is funded by IRISH AID and Higher Education Authority. The program is and being jointly implemented by four universities namely Mulungushi University,Mzuzu University,National University of Ireland Maynooth and Zambian Open University.  The program is running in two other African Universities of Zambia Open University, Mulungushi University over two years from 2013 to 2015.

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[i] A Community of Practice is a knowledge community with shared passion, concern/problem to deepen their knowledge through on-going exchange.’ Mataya B. Definition of a Community of Practice,2013

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