Group Village Head (GVH) Kalonga
* We have farmland at Makhanga but it is in water due to rising levels of water in Shire River—GVH Kalonga
* Once the scheme is constructed, families will be able to grow crops more than once a year, contributing to food security at household level
By Robert Nayeja, MANA
People who were relocated from flood-prone area of Makhanga to Milton Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Mbenje in Nsanje District, have appealed to government to construct an irrigation scheme so that they can be food secure.
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Group Village Head (GVH) Kalonga asked for this life-changing facility on Thursday on behalf of her subjects when a high-level delegation of officials from the British High Commission in Malawi, USAID and Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) visited the relocated community.
GVH Kalonga said despite their settling at the upper land, her subjects have been hit hard by hunger following last year’s dry spell: “We have farmland at Makhanga but it is in water due to rising levels of water in Shire River.”
Cyclone Dikeledi update
She added that once the scheme is constructed, families will be able to grow crops more than once a year, contributing to food security at household level.
GVH Kalonga assured the delegation that the community will never go back to Makhanga after going through devastating floods every year — and thus praised a non-governmental organisation called Give Direct for supporting the community with startup cash which the community used to build houses at the new settlement area.
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On this note, British Deputy High Commissioner in Malawi, Olympia Wereko-Brobby, commended the community for using the donation wisely: “I am impressed the way the community build its resilient following the effects of Cyclone Freddy.”
On his part, Commissioner for Disaster, Charles Kalemba said the government was putting in place sustainable systems to ensure food security in the country.
“Such systems include irrigation schemes just like what we have seen at Chimwala mbango scheme which is gravity fed,” Kalemba said, while assuring the community that the government will continue supporting them with systems that will enhance food security in Nsanje.
The tour of Nsanje in pictures
