Blantyre District Council

Vegetable farming bails community members from poverty

Community members in Kabuluzi Village in Blantyre have embraced Integrated Homestead Farming (IHF) under the World Bank funded Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) saying it has improved their livelihood.

The communities under Kapichira Catchment have been relying on rain fed agriculture that has been a challenge due to erratic rainfall until MWASIP trained them in integrated Homestead Farming which saw most of them developing backyard gardens for vegetable farming.

Speaking in an interview, one of the farmers from Mkaladzi, a Sub catchment under Kapichira, Alinafe Gumbo said that due to climate change her family has been experiencing low crop yields every farming season which dragged them into a dire poverty.

She said: “Climate change has resulted into low crop yields, and it became difficult to feed our family. One day I was invited to a training of integrated homestead farming under MWASIP where I was told the possibility of generating money whilst at home with the land available around us.

“We constructed a backyard garden for vegetable production; in the first cycle, we harvested Mpiru and Chinese, after selling we earned about MK50,000. With that money we managed to pay school fund for our two children, bought one piglet and some clothes for children and we are constructing a poultry khola to venture into poultry farming.”

In his remarks, Village Head Kabuluzi described the development as helpful and a game changer for his community members saying he never expected that they could do vegetable production and make more money around their homes using locally available resources like manure.

MWASIP has trained more than 50 farmers in the area on IHF as one way of generating money at household level while restoring degraded land.

Reported by Moffat Jeremia

The extraordinary full council meeting today conducted elections for the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of Blantyre District Council.

The newly elected Chairperson is Councillor Elson Dumuka of Mzamba Nantipwili Ward and is being deputized by Councillor Montfort Phalura of Chigwaja Ward.

The elections were presided over by the District Commissioner of Blantyre, Alex Mdooko.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has commended the District Election Supervisory Team (DEST) for Blantyre for supporting the Commission to achieve its mission of delivering credible elections that are free, fair, transparent, inclusive, and efficient in line with democratic values.

MEC Acting Regional Elections Manager, George Kaminga said this on Thursday when the Commission briefed DEST on polling procedures and results management ahead of the Chilaweni ward by-elections slated for 23rd July, 2025 in Blantyre.

He also urged the council to supervise its staff during electoral process to ensure that they discharge their duties in line with MEC core values.

Speaking on behalf of the DEST Chairperson, Director of Administration for Blantyre District Council, Redgson Mkolombwe hailed MEC for briefing the DEST members on polling procedures and results management ahead of the Chilaweni by-elections.

He encouraged DEST members to be available in all activities to ensure credible elections according to the laws.

Pictorial: Briefing of the District Election Supervisory Team for Blantyre on polling procedures and results management

District Commissioner for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko has advised Area Executive Committee (AEC) members that are mostly tasked to provide technical guidance to communities when revamping Area Development Committees (ADCs) and Village Development Committees (VDCs), to desist from partisan politics in the course of their duties.

Mdooko said AEC members, as technocrats, are expected to put partisan politics aside and work with the communities at the community level to provide guidance on what constitutes ADCs and VDCs, including the roles of the development structures in promoting sustainable development in the district.

"Man is political by nature, and we know that in the villages, there is a lot of politics that takes place. We are strongly advising the AEC members to do their work as technocrats, not as politicians to politicise every task.

NICE Trust Pogrammes Officer for Blantyre rural and urban, Glory Ngosi Maulidi, said that NICE Trust through its programmes of promoting democracy and governance, intends to work with the well organized local structures that understand their roles in project implementation, monitoring, as well as service delivery tracking, hence offering support to the activity.

Revamping of ADCs and VDCs is expected to start soon in the areas of Mudi, Kapeni Chisenjere, Machinjiri Mtenje, Chilaweni, and Kuntaja.

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Malawi is undertaking the Demographic and Health Survey through the National Statistical Office.

These surveys are usually undertaken mid-year, towards the next Census.

Today, a delegation of supervisors and observers that included the Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Shelton Kanyanda, and the UNFPA Resident Representative, Nelida Rodrigues, paid a courtesy call to the District Commissioner for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko.

Since the team will be supervising and observing data collection, the NSO Act requires that one should take an Oath of Office and Secrecy.

The DC therefore administered the oath to the group to enable them to engage in the exercise.

From Blantyre, the team is expected to visit Dowa and another district in the north.

Pictorial: Social marketing activities performed during the MWASIP Catchment Conservation launch in Blantyre.

Pictorial : Blantyre District Council launched the catchment management initiative to conserve and restore the environment in Traditional Authority (TA) Kunthembwe's area.

The initiative falls under the World Bank funded Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP).

Blantyre District Council will launch the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) Catchment Conservation Management tomorrow in the area of Traditional Authority Kunthembwe.

The function is expected to take place at Dawa village in Group Village Head Kunthembwe.

Acting District Project Coordinator Owen Malimba said the launch will be held under the theme: 'Integrated Catchment Conservation and Management for Enhanced Climate Resilience and Improved Livelihoods'.

"Currently, all preparatory activities have been finalized, and we anticipate to have a very successful launch," he said.

Football bonanza, drama, dances, and speeches are some of the activities lined up to spice up the event.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has expressed satisfaction with the newly constructed K1.1 billion Nancholi Health Centre, which is expected to serve about 44,000 people in Nancholi and surrounding areas.

Speaking during the official opening ceremony of the facility on Wednesday, the minister said the structure is of high-quality standard and also adequately equipped to provide essential health care services to people, including those under five.

"We commend the contractor for building this state-of-the-art facility in Blantyre, and this standard should be replicated by other districts that are also constructing similar health facilities," the Minister said.

She then charged the health facility management committee to take due responsibility for ensuring that the facility is maintained and that no medical officer is involved in drug-related theft.

Human Development Team Leader for the British High Commission to Malawi , Dan Pine, also said he was impressed with the newly built state-of-the-art Nancholi Health Centre.

He expressed commitment to continue working with the Ministry of Health to support the health sector in providing the required services to improve the health and well-being of people.

Traditional Authority Somba thanked the government for constructing the health center to provide health-related services to people in the area.

He then urged his subjects to take ownership of the facility to ensure that it continues to benefit current and future generations.

Among others, the facility will provide outpatient, under-five clinic, maternity, and family planning services.

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda will officially open Nancholi Health Centre in Blantyre on Wednesday, which is expected to serve about 44,000 people.

Blantyre District Health Office Director of Health and Social Services Dr. Gift Kawalazila said, "This facility is strategic for the people of Nancholi because their only closest facility was Zingwangwa Health Centre, which is more than 18 kilometers from here."

One of the beneficiaries, Annette Malemba from Nancholi, said the facility is a big relief to the community.

She said, "It was very hard to reach Zingwangwa, especially for expectant women."

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Pictorial: Blantyre Youth officers, Peter Mizedya and Martha Chilewani, engaged members of the Youth Technical Working Group on Risk and Vulnerability Assessment tool, which is currently in development. The tool targets Adolescent Girls and Young Women in both Blantyre city and rural areas.

Blantyre District Health Office (DHO), with support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has provided 18 motorcycles to volunteers within the community health centers to assist in mobility during the provision of immunization services to people in hard-to-reach areas.

DHO's Director of Health and Social Services, Dr. Gift Kawalazira, said the initiative is under the Direct Delivery of Routine Immunization vaccines and other interventions for Equity (DRIVE), aiming to scale up the last-mile supply chain delivery solution in Malawi.

"This is the first of its kind, and we are very grateful to UNICEF. Suffice it to say that these motorcycles will be used by the volunteers in our communities to support our community health workers in ensuring that there is a good supply of vaccines, especially in hard-to-reach areas to combat outbreaks," he said.

Health and Environment Committee Chairperson, councillor M***a Chikwakwa, said the committee will ensure that the volunteers use motorcycles for their intended purpose for the smooth delivery of the vaccines.

In his remarks, one of the volunteers from Ndirande Health Centre, Kondwani Kaisi, said the donation will ease their tasks in delivering vaccines.

Blantyre District Council has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) implementing different activities in the district.

The NGOs include Young Women Christian Association of Malawi, Epilepsy Warriors Foundation, AQUAID Lifeline, JHPIEGO, Hygiene Village and Hope for Development.

Speaking during the ceremony, Director of Planning and Development for
Blantyre District Council, Melayi Mhone said the MoU is a requirement from the Ministry of Local Government to ensure that the council knows what development projects are being implemented by its partners in the district to benefit residents.

“Through this MoU document, the council outlines its expectations from the partners and vice versa. Additionally, the document indicates project information like the interventions, target population, duration and the budget,” Mhone said.

Mhone, therefore, urged the NGOs to work very closely with various council sector heads so that they benefit from policy direction and coordination of activities to avoid duplication of efforts.

She also appealed to NGOs which have not yet signed the MoU with the council but were operating in the district to enter into this formal agreement expeditiously.

“So far, 30 NGOs have signed the MoUs with the council and we expect others to follow suit,” she said.

However, Mhone underscored the need for the council to have more partners implementing various projects to support it in the provision of essential social services to the people.

JHPIEGO Programme Manager, Chimwemwe Chirembo hailed the council for the initiative.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has received nomination papers from nine candidates contesting for a ward councillor during the by-elections at Chilaweni ward in Blantyre Rural East constituency.

The candidates are Allan Chikomo from Umodzi Party, Mulira Junior Mulira Bello from Muviwachilungamo Revolutionary Party (MRP), Lucius Kasonya from Leaders with Compassion Party, Reuben Lungu from Democratic Progressive Party, Ted Knox Kaliyati from People Development Party, Anthony Mitambo from United Democratic Front, Bernard Glavel Mteche from Malawi Congress Party, and Maxwell Chipiliro Phiri, as well as George Chiluma, independent candidates.

Speaking during the ceremony on Wednesday in Blantyre, Chairperson for MEC Justice Anabel Mtalimanja advised the candidates to continue holding peaceful campaigns for the forthcoming by-elections slated for July 23, 2024.

Chilaweni Ward fell vacant after the death of the ward councillor, Carol Mdala, earlier this year.

The Parliamentary Committee on Governance, Assurances, and Public Sector Reform visited Blantyre District to appreciate forestry management interventions being implemented under the World Bank-funded Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP).

Speaking during the visit, the chairperson of the parliamentary committee, Noel Lipipa, commended MWASIP for implementing forest management activities to restore the depleted forests and also support community livelihoods through matching grants.

Meanwhile, Lipipa has encouraged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change to work in collaboration with other ministries, departments, and agencies to step up efforts to ensure that communities use alternative sources of energy other than firewood, timber, and charcoal.

This is in respect that currently, 80 percent of the country's population depends on natural resources such as firewood, biomass, and timber, which are depleting the forests, according to the Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Yunus Mkungula.

Multi-sectoral Nutrition and Early Pictorial: Childhood Development Program: Key to Food Nutrition

The Farmers Union of Malawi, on Wednesday, led members of Germany's KFW in the supervision of the Multi-sectoral Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Program being implemented in all Traditional Authorities of Blantyre including Chigalu in Mdeka.

KFW expressed gratitude for the project, stating that it is truly bearing fruit, and they intend to focus more on increasing its duration from two and a half years, based on what they witnessed during the field visit. The pictures depict the various activities that took place before the project's supervision.

Chairperson of Budget and Finance Committee in Parliament, Gladys Ganda has praised the Blantyre District Council for the teamwork they employed with Members of Parliament and communities, which has led to the successful implementation of development projects in the district.

She said this on Saturday after touring projects under Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and District Development Fund (DDF) in Blantyre such as Namikango classroom block and Matandani concretely bridge.

Ganda said the committee is mandated by the constitution and Public Finance Management Act to play the oversight role on the funding that is channeled to the councils and to do budget tracking, hence the visit.

Speaking on behalf of the District Commissioner (DC) for Blantyre, Director of Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources, Edward Katunga hailed the parliamentary committee for the visit to inspect projects done by the council.

Ganda was joined by members of the Budget Committee, Parliament Secretariat, officials from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Local Government and Culture and National Local Government Finance Committee.

Blantyre District Council through the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP) has for the first time trained 40 digitisers to collect accurate data of the work being done by communities participating in restoring degraded landscapes to facilitate timely payment of their wages.

Speaking during the training, Blantyre District Council Principal Information Management Analyst, Bengula Mhone said the digitisers are from 15 catchment areas including Chilambalare, Mgawa, Lirangwe 2, Mlombozi, Mikundi, Somba, Mabala, Mikundi, and Linjemesi where the project is being implemented in the district.

Mhone said the digitisers will make use of Mthandizi monitoring tool which is an android-based application to record daily work logs of the participants that are recorded on log sheets and the information will be directly captured into computer systems from the catchments.

“This will streamline the wages preparation process and the participants will enjoy timely receipt of their wages. This also means the subsequent cycles will start on time because there will not be any delays in between the cycle,” said Mhone.

Mhone said in the near future, the application shall also be used by extension workers to record progress and images of all project works.

Director of Planning and Development for Blantyre District Council, Melayi Mhone advised the digitisers to work with a high level of integrity and professionalism to ensure that accurate data is captured so that wages are paid on time.

Mary Sipuni, one of the digitisers from Nazombe catchment area, hailed the council for the training, pledging to utilize the knowledge gained to gather and record accurate data from participants of the project.

One of the project participants from Mikundi catchment area, Moses Molofati said he is delighted with the new step taken by the council to ensure that they receive their payments in time to support their households.

Pictorial: The District Agriculture Office conducted an Agriculture Field Day in the area of Traditional Authority Kuntaja in Kunthembwe Extension Planning Area in Blantyre.

The guest of honour, Councillor Margaret Sisseo Mikita, who is also the District Agriculture Committee Chairperson, led officials from the Department of Agriculture, stakeholders, and communities in inspecting Tikondane Irrigation Scheme and also touring pavilions at Khombwe Community Day Secondary School.

Some of the companies that showcased their products include Glowbest, Virtual Irrigation Academy (VIA), FISD, Bayer Malawi, and Farmers Organisation Limited.

This year's agriculture field day was held under the theme: "Irrigation Farming and Diversified Climate-Smart Agriculture; key to Sustainable Food Nutrition and Income Security".

Blantyre District Council has qualified for the 2023 performance-based grant under the World Bank funded, Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) amounting to K403 million to implement various infrastructural projects in the district.

Speaking during the dissemination meeting of 2023 Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) results for Blantyre, Urban Development Specialist for National Local Government Finance Committee, Joy Pankomera, commended Blantyre District Council for performing well during the last year's performance assessment that has enabled the council to qualify for the grant.

“Honestly, I am impressed with the performance because if we look back, in 2020, the district scored 47 percent, in 2021, it scored 63 percent, in 2022 the district scored 60 percent. For the previous LAPA of 2023, the council has scored 73 percent,” he said.

Pankomera said the trajectory was positive such that the NLGFC was hopeful that Blantyre will continue improving.

“The good news is; Blantyre has always been on average or above average. So we are very optimistic that the district is moving, and what is important now is that they should keep improving their results,” he added.

He advised the council to continue doing its job efficiently and diligently in the interest of the public it serves.

“The council should do its job well and rightly, and submit the monthly reports on time and in the right manner. The same should also apply to other sectors, including procurement, where the council officials need to follow all procurement procedures," he said.

District Commissioner (DC) for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko, described the meeting as insightful, saying it looked at a case-by-case situation about the trends achieved by the council since LAPA started.

“Blantyre District initially missed the GESD grant for two consecutive years and this was very painful as the council lost much in those two consecutive years meaning that the people we serve lost as well. This money was meant to support implementation of various development projects.

“Starting getting the grant for two years and with just one GESD funding cycle remaining, the council will work hard to improve on the rankings so that next time, we get good sums of money. For us to do this, we need to learn from the past, understand the present and plan for the future,” said Mdooko.

Performance-based grants are an additional source of funding that supplements the traditional funding mechanisms of local authorities to carry out various development projects.

Councils qualify for the grant based on their performance during the annual LAPA assessment.

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Senior Social Protection Specialist and Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP) for World Bank Mission Task Team Leader, Chipo Msowoya has expressed gratitude over the climate-smart public works programme (CS-PWP).

He said the project has reduced households' exposure to risks of climate change, climate disasters and that communities are adopting land resource conservation and were practicing afforestation.

Msowoya was speaking at Lunzu in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Makata in Blantyre during the World Banks mission supervision of the Linjemesi catchment area where climate smart project is being implemented with an aim of creating visible, durable and quality assets within micro catchments that will assist in improving household resilience and food security.

He said the Mission decided to visit Blantyre because the mid-term review of the project was on-going as such they wanted to acquire field insights and achievements that should inform and re-assess the project on how to enhance the intervention.

“Since the beginning of supporting public works through national and local government in the past, we were witnessing relatively lesser community ownership of project assets but now we are seeing communities appreciating much more and taking the project as their intervention which reassures us of sustainability beyond the project support,” Msowoya noted.

He added that the development was encouraging and impactful such that the World Bank plans to increase the number of participants in the project and extend duration due to a sense of ownership among the communities.

The Climate-Smart Project is being implemented in all districts of the country under the SSRLP initiative whereby in Blantyre,it is being run in Zemba, Nazombe, Mombo, Mlombozi, Milare Chilambalare, Mikundi, Mgawa Masinde, Mabala, Lirangwe 2, Likhubula, Kamwendo Linjemesi and Somba catchments area and it runs from 2020 to 2027.

Linjemesi Catchment Area Chairperson, Crissy Yasini said the project has helped them to realize good yield due to the use of check dams and swalles that enhanced the availability of irrigation water and helped in the slowing run-off, preventing crops from being washed away.

“We have benefited a lot through this project, floods did not affect us much which resulted in a good harvest that has even allowed us to find our basic needs, we can now pay school fees for our children and since the introduction of swalles and check dams, we can grow crops and harvest more at a place where I wasnt able to harvest,” she said.

Director of Planning and Development (DPD) for Blantyre District Council, Melayi Mhone hailed the World Bank for supporting the council and government in the project, expressing satisfaction with the level of community participation in the project.

“Indeed the project is bearing fruits, as council through different stakeholders we are geared to support community members to meet the government mandate of Malawi Vision 2063 as such, I am urging the community members to participate in developmental projects,” he said.

Linjemesi Catchment Area is over 377.5 hectares with over 1876 families; whereby, participants of the project have managed to plant 25,133 trees along river banks and 1,889 in homestead woodlots which saves the community in different ways.

Pictorial: Fourth quarter full council meeting held on June 3rd, 2024 at Victoria Hotel in Blantyre.

Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) on Friday launched flag week at the division level in Blantyre aimed at embarking on fundraising activities by its volunteers in different areas in the district.

MRCS Blantyre Division Chairperson, and Engineer, Geoffrey Francis Magwede said MRCS volunteers will be moving to various places like schools, markets, and churches to fundraise a target of K10 million funds.

Magwede disclosed that during the flag week Blantyre Division targets to raise K10 million and at the national level the MRCS expects to raise K160 million.

President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera launched the flag week at the national level in Lilongwe under the theme; of Keeping Humanity Alive.

Blantyre District Commissioner, Alex Mdooko commended the MRCS for providing humanitarian assistance in the district in various ways in times of disasters as was the case during Tropical Cyclone Freddy, saying the MRCS was the first to arrive on the scene for the response.

“When the district was affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, MRCS was the first organization that came to our rescue,” he said.

The District Commissioner therefore encouraged people in Blantyre to support the MRCS during the flag week.

Blantyre District Director of Health and Social Services, Dr Gift Kawalazila, says Nancholi Health Centre is expected to be opened soon and will serve a population of 30,000 people.

Dr Kawalazila said in an interview that the Ministry of Health already handed over the facility to Blantyre District Council and a team of medical workers have already been deployed to the facility.

"This facility is paramount to people of Nancholi Township because their only closest facility was Zingwangwa Health Centre which is more than 18 kilometres away,” Kawalazila said.

Kawalazila added that the facility will be able to offer both out patient, maternity and under five services which is a complete package for Primary Health Care.

"We will begin with under five clinic, out patients and finally maternity. Thereafter, we will be in full swing," he said.

The facility In- charge, Alice Kankhuni, said they are prepared to serve the community through all services at the clinic.

"We have very beautiful and big staff houses which are close to the facility and this will make it easy for us to reach out to patients on time," she said.

Annette Malemba from Nancholi said the facility is a big relief to the community as it was hard to reach Zingwangwa especially for expectant women.

"Zingwangwa is far from here; its hard carrying a child at the back going there for treatment,” she said.

The construction of Nancholi Health Centre started in 2016 and was funded by the Ministry of Health.

In an effort to improve learning environment, Blantyre District Council is constructing a classroom block at Chitundu Primary School in Traditional Authority (TA) Kuntaja whose learners are currently being accomodated in make shift structures whilst others learn in the open.

In an interview on Thursday, Chitundu Primary School Head Teacher, Yobu Masiye, said the school has one classroom block which is occupied by standard seven and eight learners.

The school, which has an enrollment of 442 against that one classroom block, has no head teachers office.

“Other learners learn in makeshift structures which were constructed by communities and others learn under the shades of trees leading to poor attendance. This is worrisome because it affects learners performance,” Masiye said.

He then hailed Blantyre District Council for initiating the project which will facilitate the construction of a classroom block and teachers office.

He expressed optimism that the development will enable teachers to have enough space to prepare for their lessons before going for classes.

“I believe enrollment will increase as standard five and six learners will now be learning in a proper structure. As of now the school has enrolled extra 28 learners,” he said.

Masiye, then appealed to the Council to construct more classroom blocks and build a house for the head teacher, saying he currently walks a distance of about eight kilometres everyday to and from the school.

One of the learners, Bridget Bwanali, said the new classrooms will especially come as a relief to most girls whose wellbeing was being compromised due to poor learning environment, thus leading to dropouts.

Director of Education, Youth and Sports, Paul Chimphanda, said the new classroom block will provide a favorable learning environment.

He acknowledged that most junior classes learn under the shades of trees which disrupts classes especially during rainy season.

“This is a good development because school enrollment will increase as learners will be motivated to attend classes without disruption. On the other hand, teachers will also enjoy teaching because the new classroom has a storeroom to keep their teaching materials,” he said.

The project at Chitundu Primary School is being implemented with Constituency Development Fund at a cost of K39.4 million.