A Bunch of Updates

Farmers finish harvesting their rainy season crops in late May or early June. Irrigation typically ramps up as the farmers' time becomes more available. We have several projects that are in full swing now.

Ngwangwa Irrigation Project
Farmers have planted maize to practice new irrigation and crop husbandry skills. This project will provide supplemental food and income to over 800 families.

Farmers who completed the training program last year are now employing the skills and strategies learnt. Farmers who demonstrate high potential are encouraged to join clubs and form an irrigation association. The base of the club is a new demonstration site at Ngwangwa. Here we are advising them on water tank construction.

Mziza Food Security Project
Food security at Mziza has been strengthened by AWP through irrigation, management training and a micro-loan facility. Production is now robust and resilient. This year farmers have harvested over 35 bags per acre, a yield worth $525 on an investment of just $100. Other farmers in Lilongwe District (such as at Ngwangwa) have yielded much less due to erratic rainfall.
  

3.5 Acres of Grain

Progress is being made at our training sites in Lilongwe. These farmers have planted 3.5 acres of maize. which will yield approximately 8,000 lbs of grain. This will meet the food requirement of their families long enough to fend off hunger during the leanest months later this year.

 Two weeks ago in the same garden:

Not far away, another irrigation club is preparing to construct a water tank that will help them irrigate more land with less time and effort. The tank will hold over 20,000 liters, or 5,400 gallons.

Early Harvesting for Irrigation Farmers

The early planting method is paying off. We harvested approximately 1,500 lbs of grain in late March through early April, just from our demonstration garden. Other farmers who used the method are busy harvesting. For them, the harvesting season will stretch from March through June. Then the first irrigated crops after the rains will be ready in June or July. As we close the gaps in food production, year-round harvesting is becoming a reality.

These techniques are only available to irrigation farmers. Others rely exclusively on rainfall to water their crops, which is a vulnerable method of farming. That's why creating inexpensive irrigation pumps, and training farmers to use them, is so important. There really needs to be nonstop harvesting to not just produce sufficient amounts of food, but also to mitigate any emergencies that affect yields.

Planting!

In partnership with the Ngwangwa Agriculture Extension office, AWP is training 1,000 farmers how to grow enough food throughout the year. The farmers are now planting maize to put their skills to use.

We teach them how to layout their gardens using string to get a straight and even grid. This ensures that each plant has the right amount of space to grow. They plant using sticks to measure the distance between seeds and the depth. They apply manure and fertilizer before planting to give their crops the best start possible. 

Partnering with Local Development

Many development projects fail because the target communities do not adopt them. Often this can be averted by simple, inexpensive consultations with the community members and the leadership. We have to consider the local customs, environment, and resources, as well as the interests and goals of the people. 

 Last week we began consulting with the Ngabu Area Development Committee (ADC), which is a group of local residents who advice the chiefs and communities on development issues. The ADC helped us to identify groups of farmers who could participate in focus group discussions. The overall purpose of the engagement is for us to develop a clear idea of the problems facing their community, and then to create a possible solution together with them.

When we asked the ADC what farmers worry about when they first wake up in the morning, the response was a clear "FOOD!". They believe that climate change is the cause of the current food shortage, siting droughts and floods that destroyed crops last year. This year is not looking much better, with most of the area in drought conditions.

We will continue working with the community to develop a way for them to have food throughout the year. The largest river in Malawi is just a few kilometers from where the meeting took place. There must be a way to get that water to the crops so that people will always have food.

Our Resilience Innovation Challenge

In December 2015, AWP was awarded a grant by the Resilient Africa Network (www.ranlab.org) to develop a prototype for irrigation in Chikwawa District of Malawi. Chikwawa is in the Southern Region of Malawi, along the Shire River Valley. The Shire River is the outlet of Lake Malawi that flows into the Zambezi River and out to the Indian Ocean through Mozambique.

River and pump house in Chikwawa

Chikwawa is an environmentally vulnerable district. Flood and droughts that periodically affect the country tend to have their biggest impact in Chikwawa. Heavy rain upstream does not benefit crops in the ground at Chikwawa, but can still result in floods that wipe out entire villages.

Defunct Irrigation - many irrigation sites in Chikwawa have gone out of use. Why and how do we prevent that?

AWP will be working with two traditional authorities (i.e. chiefdoms the size of small counties) to design new irrigation methods and technologies that are appropriate for the district. While we have our ideas, we are inviting the local communities to provide insight into the design they think will best serve them. For the next six months, we will be developing the prototype, and eventually presenting the design to the community for their feedback.

Power at the river bank. Sounds like a good place for irrigation.

If the design is successful, AWP may have the opportunity to pilot, test and scale the design.

Chikwawa District Executive Committee - collaborating with other development workers

The pump house for an electric motor pump. The site is not operational but has potential. What can we do better?

Prime for irrigation. The Shire Rive cuts through the valley.

Irrigating in the Rain

Wind blows year round - why not use it?

Malawi has a rainy season and a dry season. Unfortunately, the rainy season can sometimes be rather dry. As we train farmers in irrigation, they are looking to capitalize on the dry season for food production and income generation. Perhaps the bigger impact comes during a dry rainy season, or drought as it is usually known.

AWP Demo Garden - teaching farmers about rainy season irrigation

The 2015/2016 rainy season has provided below average rainfall for most of the country. Farmers who have irrigation skills and equipment can save their crops by covering the water deficit through pumping ground water. Because the rain still supplies most of the water, the farmers are able to irrigate larger plots than they would be able to if they had to supply the full water requirement.

After a very bad harvest last year due to low rainfall, farmers cannot afford another drought. By irrigating during the rainy season, they will be able to keep food production up to prevent the devastation of hunger and malnutrition.

Maize suffers from water-stress - drought effects