Helping the poorest to help themselves
2nd September 2020:
A report from Lovemore
NTCHENACHENA FOREST REPORT
Today seed distribution did not occur due to another funeral that happened this other part of the area, so we have delayed until tomorrow to distribute more seeds.
The work that we did today was monitoring nurseries.
Today the following clubs have been monitored:
- Wenera club
- Lula cdss club
- Mkondowe club
- Seed Malawi Club
- Kondwani club
- Bumbakumphepo club
- Kawatwa club
- Mwalamila club
OBSERVATION
It is pleasing that all the nurseries are fenced-in as we advised them and near to a water source for easy watering.
Also no club has kept seeds and tubes at home, they have all been planted.
The area has got 46 clubs and since yesterday we have monitored 21 club nurseries. Another observation is that most of the indigenous seeds are yet to germinate which sometimes is a slow process and some tubes have just been potted and they will sow the indigenous seeds we have brought. The coordinator of this area, namely Zizwani Msisya, is helping and all clubs are following all the instructions we taught them on how to sow the these seeds.
Since we focused on planting indigenous trees this year the really serious work has been to find seeds suitable for growing the wide range of Climate, Altitude and Soil conditions we encounter over a large area from Central to Northern Malawi. Then we have to consider how they will benefit the poorest people imaginable who will plant these trees on their own land.
To their great credit, our team of Lovemore and Boyd have a great relationship with communities especially the older ones, extracting every little bit of information on trees they once had. Something that has led to many discoveries of very beneficial trees in terms of their use for construction (like one, a hardwood, that has straight poles and resists attack by termites) then there are forgotten fruit trees, and many long used as medicines.
The tree in the picture is a fig tree, one of four in this area, so they will note the altitude, and all other vital conditions and bring some seeds back for research, while asking the community to collect some carefully when the fruit is ripe (and eaten), so that we can buy some and they can plant more.
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