No Forests, no Rain, no Life

By Tony Ayuninjam and Ellen Bremenstul

Balaka in the Southern Region of Malawi is not the most popular destination for most in-country travelers.  Nonetheless, Balaka has some interesting economic, tourist and cultural attractions.  It is a train terminus for Malawi-bound trains from Zambia and Mozambique.  Balaka has fruit juice and cassava processing plants.  The Catholic Cathedral is a magnificent piece of architectural work.  Although its hot spring is yet to attract tourists, locals believe it has some healing effect.  Balaka is home to hippopotami and lots of marine life in the Shire River.  Crops cultivated include groundnuts, cotton, sweet potatoes, and tobacco.  To say the least, Balaka has economic and biodiversity potentials.  Regrettably, Balaka could lose its entire flora to wanton felling of trees for charcoal making.  Trees are mostly found in shrines and cemeteries.

The people of Lemu Village could no longer play a passive role in biodiversity and soil conservation.  The Lemu Agro forestry Group conceived a simple plan to gradually restore lost tree species by raising a tree nursery and out planting seedlings on communal and individual plots for soil fertility improvement and conservation.  The proposal luckily gained the support of influential Group Village Headman (GVH) Nthumbwe.  GVH Nthumbwe is Gilbert Ilimu’s father (Embassy Motor Pool).  Under the leadership of Mr. Danford Mankhwazi, a Forestry Technician by training, the Lemu Village community received $725 Self-Help grant to buy garden tools needed for the nursery program.  The group has nursed and transplanted over 20,000 seedlings of Glicidia sepium (Mexican spp.), Faidherbia albida (winter thorn) both for soil fertility improvement, Alcacia galpin (monkey thorn) for live fencing, Albizia lebech creates an environment conducive to honey bees, and various fruit trees varieties.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Group Secretary, Frank Zagwa thanked the US Embassy for responding to their grant request after unsuccessful attempts with other funding agencies.  GVH Nthumbwe described the people of Lemu Village as: “Hardworking and self-reliant. Lemu is exemplary in rural development,” he added.

Presiding over the handover ceremony, Ellen Bremenstul congratulated the Lemu people for their achievements and the positive image they portrayed of Balaka District.  Ellen visited the tree nursery and a community orchard of grafted fruit trees.  She promised to return to Lemu Village when the fruit trees were mature.  The occasion was graced with a thrilling interlude of drama captioned “Reap what you sow.” The articulate performers surfaced the devastating effects of deforestation on sustainable livelihood and vindicated reforestation.  Presenters drew a succinct correlation between trees, rain and human survival.  The dramatic interlude was an amusing highpoint of the handover ceremony and vividly showed that Lemu village understood and believed in the environmental needs of their land.