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.
[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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