The compost fertilizer that was used during the tree planting session today
* The bag produces 150 half-litre cups, one each needed for every food crop planting station
* Funds generated from the sales are ploughed back to community members through provision of livestock as farming alternative
* For community members who cultivate on the mountainsides and provided organic waste used to produce compost fertilizer
By Duncan Mlanjira
Ndirande Community Impact Group produces compost fertilizer from organic waste, which is sold and its proceeds are channeled towards its environmental conservation of Ndirande Mountain.
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The group, led by its director Gift Landani, is appealing to members of the community to support the production of the compost fertilizer as its benefits are many to both the consumer and to the community that is supporting the famous mountain’s environmental conservation.
At a modest price of K12,000, a 65 cubic decimeter bag produces over 150 half-litre cups of compost fertilizer, one each needed for every food crop planting station.
Landani, just like all agricultural experts are advocating — including Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale and other stakeholders in the farming industry — maintains that compost fertilizer is the best practice as it is environmentally friendly as opposed to the synthetic.
The compost fertilizer production
“We can produce bags of compost fertilizer as per order at any time,” Landani said, adding that they don’t stock a lot of the already produced stock due to storage challenges — “but we are ready to meet an order because the raw materials needed are aplenty; which is waste.”
Established in 2021 as a volunteer gathering of like minds towards waste management and environmental conservation — under the theme: ‘Cleaning and Greening’ — the group collects waste from community members to be used to produce the compost fertilizer.
This was after been distressed that residents of Blantyre Malabada Constituency were disposing their household waste anyhow in open spaces — while markets garbage keep piling up due to failure by the Blantyre City Council to collect the waste.
In the process of compost fertilizer production, they also decided to take their campaign to another level by breeding tree seedlings at their production site at the foot of Ndirande Mountain to replenish the bare landscape.
The Ndirande Mountain tree replenishment is in its third year and today, December 18, the group launch Ndirande Mountain’s Forestry Season as part of the annual national period of tree replacement, which the government launched yesterday by Vice-President Michael Usi at Lufita Primary School in Chitipa.
In appealing for business support from the public interested in organic fertilizers, the group uses its revenue to plough back to the community — especially to encourage members who cultivate on Ndirande’s mountainsides by facilitating the provision of livestock, such as poultry and pigs, as a farming alternative.
The group is based on volunteerism comprising youths who are employed while others are in school — doing all this in their free time and in shifts with some assistance from senior members of the society.
The group members contribute funds from their pockets every month to financially sustain the project and they continue to appeal for support, both financial for costs of collection of waste and equipment.
The compost fertilizer that was being produced at the onset was targeted at the community members, who cultivated on the mountainsides’ bare land and the group approached them to also practice agroforestry.
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These crop cultivators on the forest reserve were enticed to provide dry maize stocks to build on the organic waste, which is collected from community members after piling it at their households for them to recycle it into compost fertilizer.
The Impact Group thus inculcated the culture of tree planting in the promotion of environmental conservation and as their compost fertilizer generates some modest revenue, they decided to initiate and inspire the community members to venture into livestock farming as an alternative from cultivating food crops on the forest reserve.
The livestock initiative is a pass-on programme through sharing the offsprings of chickens and pigs amongst themselves to sustain the project — thus to sustain it, the compost fertilizer production needs much boost from small scale farmers.
The group has the support of the community leaders of Makata, Matope and Gamulani areas of Blantyre Malabada Constituency as well as representatives from the Forestry Department, who were present at the launch of Ndirande forestry season.
Representing the Forestry Department, Ralph Matumbera attested that the group’s initiative needs to be supported by all stakeholders, as it encompasses environmental protection, waste management and empowering community into some economic activities.
“As the Forestry Department, we are glad of the partnership we have with the Community Impact Group and the progress they have made so far in tree planting since some three years ago,” Matumbera said.
The group took the traditional leaders and the community gathering on a tour of the mountainside where over 5,000 trees that were planted last year were flourishing at a survival rate of over 75%, as Landani appraised them that at such a rate, “re-afforesting Ndirande Mountain was possible”.
For this season, Landani said they target to plant over 10,000 tree seedlings which are already available at their nursery site where the launch of the forestry season was carried out.
Also present was Cecilia Moyo, who is secretary of the people who cultivate on the mountainsides, saying she was pleased of the progress made on the Ndirande side of the mountain, adding that such a system is not available where she is based — at Chitukule area at Makhetha.
She touched on climate change, which is bringing challenges to the country through drought, flood disasters due to cyclones, observing that “not many are aware that all this is due to the massive deforestation of the environment at large”.
“If we had some good tree cover on Ndirande Mountain, I am sure the flow of water down the hill which swept away households, could have been slowed down by tree roots [if there had been available].
“So, we are in support of the initiatives by Ndirande Community Impact Group to address this serious issue of deforestation around the mountain and for sure we will keep on supporting them,” she said.
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Representing Chief Matope, Judith Moyo attested that the traditional leaders are in total support of the initiative towards the conservation of Ndirande Mountain’s trees, adding that it was sad to note the rate at which the mountain had been depleted of its forest cover.
She further said the traditional leaders are always civic-educating their subjects on the need to conserve the environment by emphasising that the weather pattern of Cyclone Freddy, that did not spare Ndirande in its devastation, was due to climate change through the worrying rate of deforestation.
“Many lives were lost and houses were swept away in this area due to Cyclone Freddy, which could have been avoided if there was plenty of tree cover on the mountainsides to halt the flow of water to the households below.
“The chiefs are also reminding the rest of the youths to take part in environmental conservation by joining the initiatives by the Community Impact Group,” said, while indicating that they will soon constitute some by-laws to deter people from wanton cutting down of trees.
It was observed that while efforts are there to re-afforest the mountain, there are many others who steal the grown trees at night, thus asked if the authorities will reintroduce patrols by forestry rangers.
Meanwhile, at the launch of the 2024/25 national tree planting season yesterday in Chitipa, the Vice-President emphasised that trees and forests are pillars upon which food production systems are built.
Usi added that most of the natural disasters which affect the country in various forms, emanate from environmental destruction especially through forestry mismanagement: “Let us internalise forestry management into our culture so that we sustain efforts which are geared at preserving forests through promotion of either tree planting and natural regeneration.
“When the environment which we are destroying starts fighting us, we cannot fight back. Imagine Cyclone Freddy which claimed a lot of lives of our loved ones — such disasters pose a threat to our environment and food production system.”
Usi added that the interplay between healthy forests and food security is a necessity for human survival and prosperity, hence the need to preserve forests.
“Therefore, the forestry season is not only a call to action, it is a fundamental necessity for our country as it resonates with our aspirations for a greener future and holds profound significance for our ability to enhance food production,” he added.
Usi said that a thriving agricultural sector depends on the health of natural eco-systems as trees enhance soil fertility and improve water retention.
Present was Senior Chief Mwaulambya, who advised people across the country to be interested in preserving trees, other than just planting tree seedlings, saying: “We have been planting tree seedlings for long but we lack interest in caring for them.”
He added that communities within his jurisdiction have agreed to have bylaws which are aimed at preventing people from destroying forests, empasising that “the bylaws are not there for the sake of their existence [as) they attract penalties to those who do not abide by them.
Paramount Chief Kyungu also alluded to the need to preserve trees so that tree planting seasons are meaningful to the country.
In the 2024/25 National Forestry Season, the country targets to restore about 22,000 hectares of degraded land and forests national wide by planting almost 40 million tree seedlings, and managing 4,000 hectares of natural regeneration.—Reporting from Chitipa by George Bulombola, Malawi News Agency (MANA)
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