BWB stakeholders invest over 50,000 tree seedlings for 2024 forestry season of Mudi Catchment Area

Kakhobwe Chapota leading by example

* The country’s green cover needs the support from every citizen—Deputy Minister of Water & Sanitation, Liana Kakhobwe Chapota

* Cyclone Freddy last year, should serve as a lesson that it is vital to conserve and protect the environment

By Duncan Mlanjira

Stakeholders in the private business sector, have contributed over 50,000 tree seedlings to Blantyre Water Board (BWB) for the restoration of green cover of the water utility service provider’s Mudi Catchment Area.

The corporate companies and organisations include Water for People with 11,000 tree seedlings; FDH Bank (10,000); audit firm Deloitte and security company G4S (5,000 each); Castel Malawi (2,500); Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Old Mutual Malawi, Mandala Lions Club (2,000 each); Kalibu Academy (1,500); as well as 200 each from Malawi University of Business & Applied Sciences (MUBAS), among others.

Graced by Deputy Minister of Water & Sanitation, Liana Kakhobwe Chapota, BWB officially launched its 2024 Forestry Season at the catchment area along road to Nkolokoti opposite Our Lady of Wisdom Secondary School where the Minister applauded the stakeholders for their investment.

She emphasised that restoration of the country’s green cover needs the support from every citizen and she also recognised the presence of traditional chiefs, led by Senior Chief Kapeni, for being part of the delegation to launch BWB’s tree planting season.

She said this after Senior Chief Kapeni had asked his fellow chiefs to be responsible in sensitising their charges from encroaching into Mudi Catchment Area to cultivate crops and also to be vigilant by alerting BWB whenever they discover anyone stealing the trees that have been restored in the past few years.

Senior Chief Kapeni observed that Mudi Catchment Area is being restored back to its past glory and further encouraged people sorrounding the area to continue respecting the important role it plays as a watershed for BWB’s supply of water to its customers.

Thus, the deputy Minister acknowledged the Senior Chief’s sentiments as very important for the sustainable water resource for the next generation, emphasising the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy last year, should serve as a lesson that it is vital to conserve and protect the environment, whose deforestation has led to climate change that is bringing many challenges to the weather patterns.

She also implored on the youths to be part of the conservation and protection of the environment and applauded BWB for involving schools that are neighbouring Mudi Catchment Area — Our Lady of Wisdom; Chichiri Secondary, Ndirande Hill Secondary; St. Kizito Primary; Makhetha Primary and also Ndirande Youth Group.

Also in his remarks, Senior Chief Kapeni had asked BWB to include other senior citizens in the exercise, and not just the youths, as they are the contributors of deforestation of the catchment area where they were defying the regulations not to cultivate on it.

Soon after multiparty was embraced in the country, members of Ndirande communities encroached on Mudi Catchment Area, cutting down trees to create spaces for cultivation despite BWB’s warnings not to do so until a few years ago when the company strictly enforced the law.

Many efforts were done to replace the trees with support from stakeholders and have reaped fruits as there some beautiful green cover.

In his speech, BWB’s chairperson, Joe Ching’ani also responded to Senior Chief Kapeni’s request, pledging that going forward, senior citizens shall also be engaged to spread the message of the conservation and protection of the environment — especially on Mudi Catchment Area.

He described their annual forestry season as solid trademark of BWB’s belief in conservation and protection of the environment as the catchment area is one important asset of providing water to the communities.

He impressed on the youths that forest cover has many benefits such as prevention of soil erosion, evaporation, land degradation and providing healthy watersheds for farming communities.

In its 18th edition of the Malawi Economic Monitor, the World Bank alerts that rapid conversion of land for agriculture and widespread deforestation for wood are proceeding at an alarming rate as forest cover has declined from 47% in 1975 to just over 20% in 2021.

The report, presented to key stakeholders that included government officials on February 27, takes note that human activities of deforestation, coupled with forest deterioration and the loss of trees on farms, significantly contributes to land and water degradation.

“In 2017, ‘hotspots’ of degradation, where multiple indicators of degradation converge, covered over 40% of the country,” said the publication. “Currently, approximately 75% of Malawi’s soils are degraded or are threatened by degradation.

“This degradation has a cascading effect on the quality and quantity of water resources. Runoff from degraded landscapes carries soils and agrochemicals, polluting watercourses and wetlands.

“This can lead to the loss of soil fertility and diminishes the overall capacity of watersheds to protect, conserve, and nurture embedded natural resources.”

The World Bank observes that this trend is worsened by changing climate patterns as “Malawi is already witnessing increased climate variability, characterized by higher temperatures, prolonged dry periods, and more erratic and intense rainfall”.

“These patterns are likely to lead to more frequent droughts and flooding (GoM 2017; World Bank 2022). Such changes exacerbate soil erosion and land degradation, resulting in reduced agricultural productivity, an increase in vector-borne diseases, and an elevated risk of damage to infrastructure.”

Watersheds describe areas of land that feed water to a river, draining through the landscape into tributaries and main river channels and the  the Malawi Economic Monitor’s special topic examines the opportunities to redirect funds currently allocated for agricultural and forestry inputs toward a more explicit emphasis on watersheds.

The publication further says the health of Malawi’s watersheds is impacted by rising population density as since 1970, the country’s population has surged from just over 4.6 million to nearly 21 million at the start of 2024.

“The majority of the population resides in rural areas and is characterized by poverty and a heavy reliance on natural resources for sustenance. Consequently, rapid population growth exerts substantial pressure on natural ecosystems.

“Current livelihood strategies are pushing the natural environment to a critical threshold, where it may soon be incapable of providing the necessary services to safeguard both livelihoods and infrastructure. This jeopardizes the resilience required to address the challenges posed by a changing climate.

Malawi Economic Monitor provides an analysis of Malawi’s economic and structural development issues, which is part of the ongoing series published twice each year.

It intends to foster better-informed policy analysis and debate regarding the key challenges that Malawi faces in its endeavour to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth.