Setting communities on course for self-reliance

Not a long time ago, Matilda Gondwe did not fathom of where to get quick cash. Her only stable source of income was tobacco but that income came after almost a year of toiling.

Today, Gondwe, who is treasurer of the Takondwa Dairy Club of Rumphi, sings a different song. She is able to make quick cash through the sale of milk from the dairy cows her group tames.

This change of fortunes is not something Gondwe and seven other members of the group worked easily.

“In 2008, we heard that officials from Find Your Feet were going from village to village through chiefs looking for people who would come up with projects that they would assist with funding,” said Gondwe.

“We wrote a proposal for dairy cattle farming. We were interviewed and later taught a number of issues regarding dairy cattle farming including construction of the kraal and preparation of feed.”

They contributed money towards the building and roofing of the kraal. Find Your Feet gave them three dairy cows and a bull in 2010. The cows were of different ages so the milk production is sustained over a longer period of time.

The group was also taught how to detect when a cow is on heat so they could easily move into its pen the bull which stays in a different pen, just like the rest of the cows, for mating.

They once did it and the oldest cow gave birth to a female calf. This is the cow that they started milking. They sold the milk and shared part of the money they realised.

“The cattle are ours and the only requirement for us is to pay three cows to the Village Development Committee (VDC). These cows will later be passed on to another group,” added Gondwe.

She said the milk they got from the first cow earned them K18,000 a month. She added that they used part of the money to supplement the cattle’s feed and shared the remainder.

While the Takondwa Club got cattle, other groups got goats and pigs, among others. However, the operation of the scheme is the same.

The livestock pass on programme is one of a number of thematic lines along which Find Your Feet provided funding with the view of helping group members to establish themselves on the way to self reliance.

These activities fell under the Rumphi Food Security Programme which Find Your Feet implemented with a K280 million joint funding from the European Union (EU) which contributed 90 percent and Development Fund (DF).

Find Your Feet Projects Manager Chimwemwe Soko said several groups drawn from Chiweta, Mhuju, Bolero and Katowo Agricultural Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) were also supported to establish themselves in agroforestry and a number of modern agricultural practices.

“These people’s lives are determined by a diverse range of issues which is why we did not just focus on one thematic area,” said Soko.

“For instance, there are people who grow tobacco and processing tobacco requires a lot of timber. So we went into afforestation as well because without that a number of areas would be left barren which would not be good for agriculture generally.”

Joyce Kumwenda, who coordinates agroforestry projects in the Chikwawa-Jandang’ombe Zone in the district, said since 2008 people have planted a number of fertility replenishing trees in her area.

She said over 3,000 trees have also been planted on areas that were deforested because of the tobacco industry.

Soko added that through a concept branded lead farmer, in which an individual farmer is taught modern farming techniques and later teaches others, a number of farmers have boosted their crop yields regardless of the devastating effects of climate change.

He said over the period of four years, Find Your Feet has trained 200 lead farmers who in turn have trained 11,000 follow up farmers. The follow up farmers are also training scores of others each.

“The idea is to achieve a multiplier effect and the learning process is easy because the farmers learn through observing what their colleagues are able to do. They actually do what they see,” added Soko.

This diversified approach involved livestock feed production as well. And the Chirambo Community Based Organisation (CBO) is a success story in the area.

The group, which helps mitigate the effects of HIV and Aids on orphaned children, widows and widowers, got support for the livestock feed making project. It also runs a maize mill at Chirambo Trading Centre.

Communities around the CBO contributed sand and bricks toward the building of the two facilities. Find Your Feet funded the rest.

“The Food Security Project saw the establishment of a number of livestock clubs, among others, and without the production of livestock feed anywhere around this area, members had to travel long distances to get the feed,” said Principal Group Village Head Kawazamawe.

“But now we are producing that feed right here which means we are keeping the money here and at the same time we are attracting another lot from other areas because people from other areas come to buy feed from here as well.”

He said part of the money generated from the maize mill and feed funds operations of the CBO. The rest is used to run operations for the two. So, be it through cattle or goats, people in the catchment area have discovered their feet in these hard economic times, thanks to Find Your Feet.