By Vincent Gunde

A social enterprise organization headquartered in East Africa, Kenya – One Acre Fund, has promised to support the Dowa District Council in its district development objectives of reducing environmental degradation through the replanting of trees in the district.Ntcheu District Decries Forestry Management Gaps

One Acre Fund said Malawi’s rate of deforestation is driven by rapid population growth and the socioeconomic demand for charcoal, firewood, and agricultural land.

The organization said Malawi experiences an annual loss of roughly 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of vital forest cover.

Presenting the program to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, One Acre Fund’s Government Relations Officer Roberta Mbewe, said afforestation is contributing to Vision 2063 through wealth creation and employment, agricultural productivity and food security, and environmental sustainability – restoration of degraded ecosystems, improved forest cover to counteract deforestation and land degradation.Nine Dead in Tragic Aircraft Crash in Nthungwa Forest, Malawi

Mbewe said the long – term goal of the project is to provide additional impact that will support poverty reduction among rural households by adding new business units or interventions such as high value timber species trees or other products and services, for the program portfolio in the next 10 years.

She said the short – term goal is to distribute over 120 million high – quality tree seedlings to over 2 million farmers across Malawi with a 65 percent survival rate by 2030.Mangochi Municipality Warns of Health Risks as Residents Dump Diapers in Mpima Forest

The Officer said One Acre Fund has distributed 1,655,589 tree to 151 nurseries under Chibvala, Nachisaka, Mvera and Nalunga EPAs in Dowa district.

“One Acre Fund is now targeting 2,880 hectares of land cover in year two reaching out to 80,000 farmers with 3,200,000 tree seedlings and 25 tree seedlings per farmer in Bowe, Chisepo, Nambuma, and Madisi EPAs,” said Mbewe.Investigative Report: How Nir Ges Obtained a Diplomatic Passport in Malawi

She said the program has enjoyed excellent coordination with the District Forestry Office, high adoption rate of 95 percent of farmers, capacity building of Nursery Managers and job creation among the communities in the district.

However, Mbewe said the program has met some challenges in the course of implementation such as late deliveries of polythene tubes from suppliers, misunderstandings over nursery timeliness and land use, low commitment from some Nursery Managers, weak local support of nursery activities and seed sourcing and quality.

In his remarks, Chief Agriculture Officer, Directorate for Agriculture Services for Dowa District Council Japhet Zingani, urged all partners, stakeholders to work closely with the relevant sectors within the council and this include Technical Working Group.

Zingani expressed hope that if the program is well coordinated and effectively implemented, it has the potential to significantly improve lives and overall development landscape of the communities in the district.Kamphangala urges Mutharika to meet activists and journalists for their concerns