By Brenda Nkosi

Training of Thyolo extension workers on soil management-pic by Brenda Nkosi

Thyolo, November 28, Mana: The District Commissioner for Thyolo, Douglas Moffati  has expressed excitement with the new technologies that the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Program (CS-EPWP) will impart in communities.

Moffati said this on Monday in Mulanje when he officially opened a week long training of extension workers on soil and water measures and tree nursery establishment.

“We are very excited with the program as it will impart new technologies into our communities like a quartiers and water harvesting.

“We hope this can be popularized so that generations to come would practice them as a normal way of land management,” he said.

Therefore the DC urged extension workers to start with what people already practice, then bring in new technologies that blends with what they already do in land management.

District Land Resources Conservation Officer for Thyolo, Richard Thole said soil erosion is a common problem faced by smallholder farmers due to poor conservation measures that comes in because of inappropriate land use practices.

“Malawi loses 29 tonnes of soil per hectare per year due to soil erosion. This  translates to 108g per hectare of nitrogen lost[GZ1]  per year, 350g per hectare of phosphorous lost per year and 16.6gg per hectare of K potassium lost per year,” he said.

Thole cited cultivation on bare steep slopes, overgrazing, deforestation, ridging along the contour and cultivating along stream banks, river catchments and arable land without soil conservation measures as examples of inappropriate land use in Thyolo.

He said the project will promote new technologies in land management like water harvesting, pit planting, infiltration pits, contour stone bunds and swales.

Government is through National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) implementing CS-EPWP as a component of the Social Support Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) in 28 local councils with funding from World Bank where participants will be enrolled for a period of two years.

The selected participants will be required to work for 12 days in a month for a period of six months and be paid k900 per day. In Thyolo District, 15,550 participants have been enrolled.

Mana/bn

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