Every year the
lower Shire district of Chikhwawa gets in the news and the reasons are always
bad and lethal: flooding, drought or hailstorms, this has been happening since
newspapers could print stories but the communities there are saying enough is
enough, they want Chikhwawa to be disaster proof, can they? Bright Mhango
toured the district last weekend to hear their interventions.
The villagers
under GVH Billy in Traditional Authority Ngabu are not new to disaster, it they
each know a family that has lost a house, field of crops or child to harsh
winds, locusts, floods or drought, the villages are situated in the vicinity of
Nzengo and Nyamapovu Rivers which swell to serious and perilous levels when the
it rains.
“This year for
example, it rained for almost 10 days without letting up much and with the
narrow culverts that Mota Engil has put where the river crosses the road, the
river swelled up too much with water
creeping back to the villages,
“The banks of
the river which harbor most of the villagers crops were swept away, we live
with danger here,” said Group Village Headman Billy.
The village has
so far formally complained to Mota Engil over the narrow curvets but the culverts
are just one part of the problem.
Sopholiano
Chiputu chairs the Village Civil Protection Committee (VCPC), a committee which
came to being on the intervention of an NGO Eagles Relief Development Programme
which was in turn funded by Christian Aid to implement disaster reduction
programmes.
“We were taken
to Blantyre and trained in basic aspects, when we returned, we sat down we
listed our threats which we found as being drought, hailstorms, floods and pest
and disease outbreak, we then strategized on how to deal with each
“To counter
droughts, we started stocking livestock which we can sell when the crop fails,
we also have village saving loans which give income in times of hunger. To
counter floods, we embarked on a reforestation programme where we plant trees
along the river banks and discourage farming too close to the river.
“Against disease
outbreaks, we saw mosquito nets being distributed by government, we demand that
every household have a toilet and we are pushing for an under-five clinic to be
established right here in the village,” said Chiputu.
He said the
villagers are encouraged to avoid wastage and to use pesticides to protect
their harvest. The NGO Eagles also provided plastic tubings in the villagers
planted seedlings of trees which are being planted around houses to shield them
from wind, when Nation on Sunday visited Billy Village some of the planted
trees that dot the horizon are as high as 5 metres.
“The idea is to
make people resilient in the face of climate change and our interventions here
include Village Savings and Loans, Conservation Agriculture, Afforestation and
Livestock rearing,” said Lovemore Makaloka, project facilitator for Eagles
Relief and Development Programme.
The interventions
by Eagles are also happening in about 24 other villages, according to Makaloka.
Fast forward about
50 kilometers to Traditional Authority Ngowe's domain and in Khungubwe village,
the villagers there are also actively participating in uplifting themselves.
The
interventions in Khungubwe are being spearheaded by the Evangelical Association
of Malawi (EAM), which also gets its funding from Christian Aid.
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| This Picture was taken in Karonga |
Apart from the
conservation agriculture, village saving loans, the VCPC has developed a
network of early warning system which has seen no flood related deaths
happening since 2011.
Chakhumata
Yokoniya is the chairperson of the VCPC in the area and he told Nation on
Sunday that after the training that EAM provided them, they acquired contacts
with the metrological department personnel and those that live in the areas
upstream such that they get texts via phones of weather forecasts of up to five
days and of probable floods.
“We also have
mega phones, if we get the warning we go around the villages to warn people so
that those who live in potentially dangerous areas should evacuate,” said
Yokoniya.
And
conveniently, EAM constructed an evacuation center on the upper part of the
village for people to take refuge when waters are high; the center also serves
as a school when waters are not running the show.
Perthius Kayira
is the project officer for EAM in the area.
“EAM provided
the VCPC for the villages along the Lalanje River with Disaster Risk Reduction
training, the VCPC is an umbrella of many interventions. We also trained 2450
farmers in T/A Ngowe area in afforestation, Village savings and loans,
conservation agriculture and low carbon technology, that is stoves that use
less wood,” said Kayira.
So far, all is
well for these villages, the real VCPCs will however be seen when the donors
wrap up their trainings and presence. If the villages can hold on to the
village banks and general organizations, news from Chikhwawa will stop being of
floods and suffering but success of the communities.
Only time will
tell.
