Transforming Agriculture through Diversification Entrepreneurship (Trade) Programme has engaged district civil protection committees from Blantyre and Thyolo districts to review their disaster contingency plans.

Speaking on Tuesday at the opening of the workshop in Blantyre, Trade programme environment and climate change specialist Amos Simwela said they wanted to ensure that the contingency plans are up-to-date and in line with the Disaster Management Policy.

“We are working with smallholder farmers to improve their crop productivity and production, but to achieve that we need to build resilience among farmers against climate change shocks,” he said.

Simwela: Cyclone Freddy
is a wake-up call

Simwela said the recent Cyclone Freddy experience should be a wake-up call to district councils on how they should plan and timely respond to disasters; hence, making disaster plans that will ensure timely evacuation of people and how to mitigate the impact of the disasters.

Blantyre district commissioner Alex Mdooka admitted that the district did not expect that Cyclone Freddy would hit them so badly, which affected the district’s response plan.

He said: “We didn’t expect that Blantyre would be hit hard that way.

“We used to have contingency plans but the district was overwhelmed with the disaster. However, we will adopt a plan that considers the reality on the ground.”

Trade programme is hosted under the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development and Opec Fund for International Development. 

The post Blantyre, Thyolo councilsengaged on disaster plans appeared first on The Nation Online.