Farmers urged to embrace early maturing crops

* This aligns with the government’s growing calls for farmers to practise climate smart agriculture * Which includes planting early maturing crop varieties in our district which is hit with disasters annually By George Mponda, MANA Farmers in Karonga District and the rest of the country, are advised to plant early maturing crop varieties to lessen the impacts of weather unpredictability and climate change-induced flood disasters on their agriculture productivity. Karonga District’s agriculture development crops officer, Stocker Nundwe said…

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Heavy reliance on maize worsening looming food crisis—survey

* From Harvest Decline to Food Crisis: The Looming Threat of the El Niño-Induced Drought on Food Security in Malawi * 92.8% of surveyed households expect significant harvest reduction across crops, leading to a major decline in food production and jeopardizing food security By Duncan Mlanjira Many experts, including the donor community, have always observed that Malawians over rely on Nsima as their staple food produced from maize flour and a recent survey has nailed it on the head…

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MP Dimba emphasises that cultivation of chamba is for medicinal or commercial industrial purposes only

* The previous law did not allow the cultivation of Canabis with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potency of above 1% * Our local chamba has higher potency of above 1% and essentially it is not for recreational purposes (smoking) in Malawi By Duncan Mlanjira The Cannabis Regulation Bill, once assented to by President Lazarus Chakwera, is for medicinal or industrial (commercial) purposes — emphasises mover of the private member Bill in Parliament, Peter Dimba, legislator for Lilongwe South. Soon after the…

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‘Easter is time to remind us as Christians that God loved us unconditionally through his Son Jesus Christ’

* Let’s love unconditionally. Love is not about how much you have, how beautiful you look today * But how much you cherish each other’s company By Chifipa Mhango, economist & pyschologist by training I want to talk to most of my childhood friends — as boys then we had admiration for our classmates. As young as we were, we used to think that any woman that you love or like is your wife. So we developed this thinking…

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Malawi Parliament passes Cannabis Regulation Bill

* In 2018, we introduced the cultivation of cannabis, but somehow, we discriminated against it * Yet it’s highly sought after on the global market because of its properties—MP Peter Dimba Twimepoki Mangani, MANA President Lazarus Chakwera has on his desk for his assent the Private Members Bill No.1 of 2024: the Cannabis Regulation (Amendment) which Malawi Parliament has passed on Thursday — allowing for the controlled cultivation of locally produced Cannabis Sativa, with the aim of harnessing its…

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Finance Minister implores on state owned enterprises to implement austerity measures

Finance Minister Chithyola Banda * Government’s directives on austerity demands a collective effort to curtail spending * It is imperative that SOEs lead by example thereby reducing expenditure and fostering national savings By Leonard Masauli, MANA Minister of Finance & Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda is strongly urging state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to enact significant cuts in expenditures in a bid to align with government imposed austerity measures. Addressing stakeholders during the signing ceremony of the 2024/2025 Shareholders Letters of…

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US Senators happy with US-funded projects in Malawi

* Urged Malawi government to continue investing in young girls as they hold the future of the country * Most importantly, the senators hailed the progress that Malawi has registered in HIV fight By Kondwani Magombo, MANA Five United States of America (USA) senators, who visited Malawi to appreciate the development partnership and diplomatic relations between the two countries, have expressed satisfaction with the impact of some US-funded projects on Malawians lives. The high-powered delegation included chairperson of Appropriations…

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27,771 hectares of maize dry in Balaka

* We have planned to support 600 families in our catchment area, and Nkaya will be involved in small scale irrigation—CARD * We will also provide solar mobile pumps to help with irrigation and communities will also be assisted to rehabilitate shallow wells to make their water points reliable By Mary Makhiringa, MANA Total hectares of maize crop in Balaka for the 2023/2024 agricultural season was estimated at 95,074 but following a 33-day dry spell the district has experienced…

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WFP applauds Malawians spirit of unity in mobilising resources towards reaching out to survivors of Cyclone Freddy

* The impact of the natural disaster has been profound, causing unimaginable loss and suffering to families * Cyclone Freddy affected 2.2 million people, as 650,000 were displaced, 679 killed and 537 people are still missing to date By Alex Chitwere MANA Country Director for World Food Programme (WFP), Paul Turnball commended the spirit of unity displayed by Malawians who came together with their resources to provide assistance to survivors of the effects of Cyclone Freddy. He said this…

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Radio stations risk regulatory sanctions by MACRA if they fail to control unsavoury views to be cautious phone-in programmes

* We encourage provision of platforms such as phone-in programmes to allow listeners to speak out on topical issues in the country * However, remember that if you cannot control views that cannot be palatable to the general public then you should not entertain those programmes By Yamikani Sabola, MANA Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Director of Broadcasting, Zadziko Mankhambo has asked radio stations to exercise caution when handling radio phone-in programmes, warning that they risk regulatory sanctions if…

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