John Themba: Fruit farmer
Surrounded by water and faced with sandy soils, the people of Likoma and Chizumulu Islands in the northern part of Lake Malawi never thought they could grow vegetables and other crops.
For years, they depended on produce and maize brought in from mainland Malawi and neighboring Mozambique.Since 2006, however, courtesy of the World Bank’s Civil Society Fund Program (CSFP), about 80 percent of the 17,000 islanders have access to vegetables and fruits grown on the two islands.
The program is being overseen by Lake Malawi Projects (Malawi) or LMPM. The group is leading the islanders in managing household gardens for balancing nutritional requirements while improving livelihoods.
Turning sand to soil
LPM estimates that before 2006 only 15 percent of the islanders grew vegetables seasonally. Now, in addition to vegetables being grown, according to LMPM Project Manager Mr. Alfred Phiri, there was also significant maize production in Likoma in 2007 because of the gardening project.
The World Bank has been funding LMPM since 2006 to demonstrate to the islanders how to make and sustain their own gardens all year round.
They now know what vegetables and fruits to cultivate, how to conserve soil, make compost and animal manure.
"We encourage organic manure because fertilizer is not a sustainable option," says Mrs. Flora Sajiwandani, Chairperson of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the LMPM Executive Board. "People here cannot afford fertilizer so we have to make maximum use of what is available naturally."
The people are also taught how to tend and interplant trefhosia, a nitrogen fixing shrub whose leaves are also used to make an insecticide to control garden pests. The locals call it mtetezi – meaning protector.
Food for consumption and for sale
Other than for home consumption, most of the households on the islands grow fruits and vegetables to generate income to meet other daily needs.
"The little that I generate from selling fruits enables me buy fish, maize, bread and soap," says 76 year-old John Themba of Mbungo Village in Likoma, who opted to specialize in growing fruits for sale. He is very proud of the jam he makes from his tomatoes.
In addition to a local market, most of the households sell their produce to the secondary school, hospital, and lodges on the island. Those who produce high value crops such as chilly peppers and beetroot also take them to mainland Malawi.
"The Likoma experience is a microcosm of what needs to happen all over Malawi," says Timothy Gilbo, the World Bank’s Country Manager for Malawi. "There is need to transfer knowledge to people and encourage them to do things differently. Specializing in a high-value crop at household level and trading it, is a good path out of poverty."
According to Gilbo, progress on the island shows that a little money with the right thinking and willingness to change can achieve a lot.
Households compete for progress
The Lake Malawi Project has reached out to the islanders with about $5000 from the World Bank’s Civil Society Fund (CSF) from 2006-2008. The CSF supports innovative ideas that empower poor and marginalized groups to take charge of development processes.
In addition to the funding, LMPM has also introduced trophy competitions for summer and winter cropping. Households register their gardens for the competition which assesses how households are managing their gardens based on the skills and knowledge gained from demonstration sessions. By July 2008, 256 households had registered for the 2008 winter competition.
Other households indicated that they have also taken up gardening encouraged by the change in the neighbors’ livelihoods. "In everyday terms it sounds like a very simple initiative, but it’s great for us here in Likoma because our lives are getting better," said Sajiwandani.
LMPM is one of the seven civil society organizations (CSOs) in Malawi the World Bank is supporting in 2008. The CSOs are implement projects in the agriculture, HIV/AIDS and governance areas amounting to $35,000.--World Bank Malawi
Source: http://www.nyasatimes.com/features/1677.html
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