‘Empowerment crucial to development’

The Rural Infrastructure Development Programme (Ridp) has said empowering rural communities with various skills and knowledge would help ensure sustainability of developmental initiatives.

Ridp contracts engineer for Mangochi and Ntcheu, Omen Metani, was speaking on Wednesday in Mangochi during a district executive committee meeting where the organisation presented a progress report on Programme Estimate 3 activities which end in August this year.

“At Ridp we’ve evidence that empowerment of local communities is important in changing their attitudes and perceptions. This has not only been evaluated from the income generating public works but also in other interventions deployed in Ridp projects,” he said.

Metani reiterated that Ridp was designed to complement government’s agenda of poverty reduction in line with the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) by improving the livelihood of rural masses through infrastructure development.

“In the final analysis, we would like to enhance the socio-economic situation of targeted rural/peri urban population through improving small scale infrastructure and promoting productive activities,” he added.

While commending Ridp for its interventions, Mangochi director of planning and development, Walter Chikuni, appealed to the programme implementers to work closely with line sectors to ensure sustainability of their initiatives.

“It would be, in my view, appropriate for Ridp to work very closely with line sectors on policy direction and guidelines so that the gains so far realised are consolidated,” Chikuni said.

Ridp is operating in 17 districts through four zones of Blantyre, Kasungu, Lilongwe and Machinga. It has two components, namely small scale rural infrastructure and capacity development for the irrigation sector and gets financial support from the European Union.—Mana