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Fruit Tree Planting Exercise in Zomba District: Training Community Members in Sustainable Afforestation

Following a survey which was conducted in February 2022 in Mlenga 1 Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Chikowi in Zomba District, Malawi, it was discovered that the 103 of the 104 households (99.04%) in the village reported that they use firewood as a source of energy for cooking. 15 of the 103 households (14.56%) also use charcoal as a supplemental energy source. This heavy dependence on firewood and charcoal as energy sources has left the village’s nearby mountain almost bare due to excessive deforestation.

It was also observed during the survey that the village had some fruit trees like mango trees which were still existing. The respondents in the survey indicated that it is rare to find people cutting down fruit trees as they also depend on the same for a supply of fruits.

It was against this background that FODEMA implemented a Fruit Tree Planting Exercise in the village. In this project, each household received a minimum of two fruit trees to plant in their households. Further, the fruit trees were also planted on the bare banks of Likangala river which passes through the village. The river is on record to have caused flash floods in the village for the past few years as a result of the uncovered banks.

During this exercise, over 400 fruit trees were planted. FODEMA is looking for more funds to plant a lot more trees in many districts.

This initiative helped in enlightening the villagers on the importance of conserving trees and the entire environment and how the same is beneficial to man’s livelihood.