The Churches Action in Relief and Development (CARD) has identified household food shortages as a significant challenge affecting pig feeding in its project in Dowa District. Communities have resorted to consuming maize bran, the primary feed for pigs, due to food scarcity.
CARD has been implementing the Promoting Agro-Ecology Transition for Enhanced Resilient Agriculture in Malawi (PAETERA) project from August 2021 to September 2024. The initiative targets two traditional authorities in Dowa District: Msakambewa, covering 625 farmers under GVH Kafanikhale (Nachisaka EPA), and Mponela, targeting 350 farmers under GVH Mkuziwaduka (Mponela EPA).
Presenting the project to the District Executive Committee (DEC) in Dowa, CARD’s Project Officer, Chifundo Macheka, outlined its overarching goal: improving smallholder farmer productivity for food, nutrition, and income security through diversified livelihoods.
Key activities under the project include:
Demonstrating the preparation of organic manure and Mbeya fertilizer.
Conducting awareness meetings on agroforestry and natural resource management.
Establishing tree nurseries.
Distributing inputs to project beneficiaries.
Macheka noted that the project fostered cross-learning and knowledge-sharing among key stakeholders in agro-ecological farming, contributed to advocacy efforts, and scaled up initiatives through collaborative research.
The project also highlighted lessons learned, such as the importance of:
Collaborating with government stakeholders to enhance sustainability and ownership.
Ensuring full participant involvement to foster empowerment.
Maintaining transparency in project funding to build strong working relationships with stakeholders.
Despite these achievements, the project faced several challenges, including:
An increase in fall armyworm infestations.
Fuel shortages in the country.
Flooding in some implementation areas.
Resistance from some beneficiaries to pass on pigs to others.
Market instability, which hindered the project’s economic impact.
“There is an unstable market, which has affected the beneficiaries of the project,” Macheka emphasized.
Acting Chief Planning Officer for Dowa District Council, Yusuf Laki, advised project implementers to regularly share progress updates with the council’s secretariat. He also emphasized the importance of signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the council and CSO Network to ensure transparency, accountability, and cooperation.