Communities engage duty-bearers on climate change

Communities in Traditional Authority (T/A) Liwonde in Machinga on Monday took to task Machinga District Council officials on interventions they are undertaking to address climate change challenges in the area.

The meeting, which attracted 14 community representatives from Mangamba, Chiwalo and Ngongondo villages, provided an opportunity for the people to air out their concerns on disaster, water and food security challenges.

Liwonde Area Development Committee secretary Angel Mlenga said people in T/A Liwonde have for the past years been experiencing negative effects of climate change.

She said: “We don’t harvest enough food in our area because of heavy rains and flooding. We want the council to help us with resources for irrigation farming.”

Mlenga said currently, they have a single solar-powered irrigation scheme which has 20 farmers.

The district’s director of planning and development Macpherson Mwakhwawa assured the communities that the council will use Constituency Development Fund, District Development Fund and Water Development Fund to address some of their concerns.

He said the council has already put in place plans in the District Development Plan, which runs from 2017 to 2022, to overcome climate change challenges in the district.

“In our plan, we want to increase the number of people with access to safe water,” he said.

Catholic Development Commission in Malawi assistant programmes coordinator Aaron Mtaya said through Climate Challenge Malawi Programme, the organisation is supporting communities to voice out their problems to responsible officers.