BT Synod tips government on food security
Blantyre Synod of the Church Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) has told President Peter Mutharika that government needs to quickly implement large scale irrigation projects to enhance food production.
Speaking at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, after a closed-door meeting with Mutharika, Blantyre Synod general secretary Alex Maulana emphasised that large-scale irrigation can help the country move out of perennial food shortage caused by droughts.
He said: “We commend government’s efforts in the Green Belt Initiative [GBI]. However, with tragic effects of global warming, destructive floods and erratic rains, quick and large-scale irrigation programmes are the last resort if hunger is to be mitigated.
“Government needs to engage companies in commercial farming to use irrigation to grow maize in their fallow land. If this is done on a large scale, your government will be able to buy maize locally and to resell to areas that may be hard hit by drought.”
The synod’s delegation comprised 11 members.
Maulana added that government needs to have strategic grain reserves where it can store its maize across the country.
The synod’s tip comes at a time when the country is struggling to recover from effects of floods that hit in January last year, washing away crops and houses, rendering many farming families food insufficient.
Mutharika said just before the meeting with the delegation that the church has an important role to play in the development of the country. n
