Farmers asked to adopt agroforestry initiatives

Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development director of administration Maxwell Tsitsi has challenged farmers in Karonga to adopt agroforestry to prevent soil erosion in their fields.

The official said this on Monday during the launch of agroforestry campaign at Giliya Village in Traditional Authority Kilupula in Karonga.

Tsisi said Malawi loses about 29 tonnes of soil per hectare annually; hence, the need for farmers to adopt agroforestry farming to mitigate against the effects.

“Agroforestry farming entails farmers growing crops together with trees to prevent soil erosion. This is why we have launched this campaign today to urge farmers to follow the practice,” said Tsitsi.

Karonga Agriculture Development Division (ADD), programmes manager Aggrey Kamanga said of late there has been an increase in deforestation which has resulted in siltation in irrigation schemes. He said this was the reason farmers need to adopt agroforestry farming to mitigate against such effects.

The ministry has rolled out an agroforestry campaign with African Initiative to restore 100 million hectares in African countries, including Malawi.

The theme of the campaign is Managing Watersheds with Agroforestry. n