‘More hunger for Mzimba’

M’mbelwa District Council says people of Mzimba District should brace for another year of hunger as crops in the fields are not promising because of persistent dry spells.

However, the council says a few farmers that embraced new farming methods such as pit planting, conservation agriculture and agroforestry are expected to harvest more.

M’mbelwa District Council director of administration Thom Nthali said this at Manyamula on Tuesday during a field day held under the theme Increased Food Production and Climate Change Mitigation through Sustainable Agriculture.

He said: “We must face the truth. Mzimba will have another year of hunger. At the start of the growing season, we had good rains, but later had a dry spell. We are experiencing heavy rains after the crops dried.

“This is a problem to the district because crops in most fields are not looking good. And the situation is worsened by the fact that it is only a few farmers who are practising new methods of farming and their crops are promising.”

The field day was organised by Mzuzu Agricultural Development Division (Mzadd), Find Your Feet (FYF) and Network for Youth Development, among others.

The organisations are jointly implementing a Sustainable Agriculture Lead Farmer project with support from Development Fund of Norway to mitigate effects of climate change.

FYF country director Chimwemwe Soko said the project is targeting 100 000 households in the Central and Northern regions to adopt sustainable methods of farming. n