Poverty contributes to deforestation

After losing hundreds of hectares of land to an over-flooded Malaya River in Group Mdala Village in Balaka, communities along the river have resolved to claim back their land through extensive tree planting exercise and construction of a dyke.

Lucious Pahuwa, chairperson of Sustainable Land Management in Mdala Village, said due to excessive wanton cutting down of trees and farming along the river bank, Malaya River changed its course and destroyed hundreds of acres of cultivation land.

“When government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) preached about climate change and global warming, many villagers took it as a joke but we have experienced the harsh realities after losing our gardens to Malaya River,” Pahuwa said.

He said after realising the gravity of the problem, communities mobilised themselves to reclaim back the lost land by engaging in re-afforestation of Malaya river banks.

Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm) and Maphunziro Foundation SLM project in the Shire River Basin Team Leader, Duncan Mapwesera, said they extended a helping hand to the communities along Malaya River by providing expertise and resources in their effort to reclaim back the land.

“What happened here was a nightmare in that many people lost their farming land after the river changed its course and we intervened after seeing their determination to deal with the problem decisively,” Mapwesera said.

He said over 2000 households were affected by the floods in three villages of John Wasili, Mdala and Matembela and about 13,000 trees have been planted along Malaya River bank and a dyke would soon be constructed.

Farai Kafanikhale, Deputy Balaka Forestry Officer, said the district was extensively devastated by the floods last year because of deforestation.

“Everybody now appreciates how devastating environmental degradation can be hence this 2015- 16 forest season we plan to plant 1.2 million trees,” Kafanikhale said.

He cited poverty and hunger as the main contributing factors to the massive deforestation in Balaka and suggested that empowering communities economically would help curb the malpractice.