TOTAL LANDCARE

LANDCARE PRACTICES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN

MALAWI

CONFERENCE ON BEATING FAMINE

APRIL 14-17, 2015

Analysis of the Challenges

The heart of the problem is Malawi’s high population

density and its impact on natural resources.

There are other economic forces driving environmental

degradation

Understanding the challenges in the local context is the

first step in developing a practical plan to address them in

a sustainable manner.

Agriculture - Implications for Farmers

• Despite massive efforts to promote production-increasing technologies,

60% of households live below the poverty line. Another 20% are only

marginally better.

• Land holdings are shrinking and becoming more fragmented with

declining soil fertility and falling crop yields.

• Marginal areas have been converted to farming with devastating levels of

degradation from unsustainable land-use practices.

• Fallows have been replaced by continuous cultivation under the

destructive, labor-intensive practice of ridging with a focus on mono-

cropping and subsidized chemical inputs at the expense of more

sustainable options.

• Most households lack the resources, capital and support to undertake

sound agronomic and animal husbandry practices.

• In their struggle to survive, farmers are unable to make the critical trade-

off between sustained resource use and immediate short-term needs.

Environment Impacts analysis

Growing demands for wood and farm land are causing serious

soil and forest degradation with devastating consequences :

• Supplies of wood to meet basic needs are being depleted,

forcing greater time and effort to find, cut and carry wood,

depriving them of other opportunities

• Ground water is not being replenished and stream flows are

decreasing, limiting access to water for basic domestic and

farm needs

• Silt deposits in rivers, lakes and dams impact fisheries and

hydro-power

• Runoff and loss of top soil: More than 50% of the rainfall

runs off the farm carrying an average of 20 tons of top soil/ha

every season with upwards of 100 tons on steep lands.

Forestry - The Deforestation Challenge:

Demand for farm land and wood for fuel & construction

Drivers of deforestation in

MalawiAbout 30% of the Urban Population

depends on Firewood for Cooking

8-10 tons wood is needed to make

1 ton of charcoal in local kilns

• Flue Cured Tobacco needs 18

cubic meters of solid wood (10

tons) to cure 1 ton of Tobacco

• Burley Tobacco Sheds require an

average of 8.5 m3 of wood to cure

1 ton of tobacco over the life of the

shed

11.01

5.51

0.73

1.70

1.58

0.94 0.29 0.19

MALAWI: Wood Use in 2014 (millions of m3)

Rural Firewood 50.2% Urban Charcoal 25.1%

Urban Firewood 3.3% Tobacco 7.7%

Brick Making + Industry 7.2% Building by Rural HHs 4.3%

Building by Urban HHs 1.3% Tea 0.9%

Basis for Calculations on Wood Use

• Population: UN estimates for 2014

• Rural & Urban Firewood: 4.38 m3 per ann / HH at 6

kg per day (others report 8-10 kg)

• Urban Charcoal: Wood equivalent of 14.6 m3 per

annum / HH (2.5 kg per day at a ratio of 8:1 to convert

wood into charcoal – conservative ratio)

• Tobacco/Tea: Wood needs to cure the 2014 crop

• Brick / Lime Making / other Industrial Uses: Figures

on this are conservative estimates

• Building for Rural & Urban HHs: Wood for

constructing houses and farm structures

-

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

-

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Change in Forest Cover (ha) in Malawi between 1990 and 2015 in relation to Population Growth

Ha under Forest Population (millions-right axis)

Forest Change: 0.98% per

annum vs 2.8% pop. growth

Sources: 1) UN Projections of 2008 National Census Data. NSO, Ministry of Economic Planning &

Development Malawi. 2) WT Bunderson Extrapolations of http://rainforests.mongabay.com/

deforestation/2000/Malawi.htm

TLC’s Development Philosophy

TLC programs focus on an interactive community approach to

build local capacity for sustained improvements in agricultural

productivity, diversification, natural resource management and

incomes

• The aim is to instill a strong sense of ownership and

responsibility by transferring knowledge, skills and

resources for communities to become self-sufficient under

the slogan of “giving a hand-up, not a hand-out”.

• Extension services emphasize a diverse range of

“proven” interventions to address multiple needs which

create synergies for sustainability and impact.

Key Land Care Interventions in Malawi – TLC

Community-Based Natural Resource Management:

Assist communities to establish/improve local governance structures to support

development of co-management agreements with Govt. Agencies

Train and support communities to raise and plant tree and bamboo seedlings

Develop capacity of communities to manage land for natural regeneration

Introduce fuel-efficient stoves to reduce wood use

Environmentally Sound Agricultural Practices

Promote conservation agriculture with min tillage, good soil cover and

rotations/intercrops

Support Agroforestry initiatives and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

Integrate other conservation practices such as contour hedges of vetiver and

leguminous shrubs (Tephrosia, Sesbania, Gliricidia)

Increased Productivity & Profitability by Diversification & Intensification:

Promote diversification with crops and livestock that are well adapted to the local

agro-ecology and farming system with varieties resistant to drought and diseases

Support low-cost irrigation in areas where there is suitable land to increase food

security, incomes, diet diversity and nutrition

Encourage production of high value crops with links to good input and output

markets (e,g,, spices, vegetables, tree crops such as coffee and macadamia)

TLC Agricultural & NRM Interventions

Cons Agriculture

Improved

Stoves

Improved Livestock

Tree

Planting

Natural Regeneration

CA with Faidherbia

Winter

IrrigationTreadle Pump

Irrigation

•C

DM

AF

RIC

A S

US

TA

INA

BL

E E

NE

RG

Y P

RO

GR

AM

ME

Diversification with

Sugar Beans under CA

Positive impact on maize under the canopy of Faidherbia

trees during a dry spell due to the improved micro-

environment (left) and with a good maize crop (right)

Integration of CA with Faidherbia

FARM DIVERSIFICATION

• Decrease vulnerability of households to the risks of crop

failure from dependence on a limited range of crops

under the growing unpredictable nature of weather

• Increase diet diversity for better nutrition in rural

households

• Reduce pest and disease problems from mono-cropping

• Offer opportunities to hedge risks and make larger profits

due to widely fluctuating prices in the market for different

commodities.

Group-based Production and Marketing of

Kilombero Rice

Opportunities with Small Livestock

Production Using the Pass-On System

Purpose:• Milk

• Meat

• Cash

• Live bank

• Status

• Manure

Use improved local breeds that are hardy and well

adapted to the local environment

Increasing demand for animal protein

High reproduction rate with low investment in capital,

land and labor = high return in income / protein.

Easy to manage, low incidence of disease, drought

tolerant and feeding flexibility.

Meat acceptability: No taboos or religious restrictions

hence easy marketing.

Goats: 2-5 females/HH with 1 He-Goat per 30 females (group of Hholds)

Chickens: 10-20 hens + 1 cock /HH

Community Based Natural Resource

Management InterventionsDeveloping community

based action plans

Raising community

tree nurseries

Raising community

woodlots

Natural Regeneration: Easy and flexible to do (no

nurseries or planting), reduces deforestation,

restores biodiversity and provides diverse

products

Management and integration of

existing F/albida into crop

production systems

Community Initiatives to Improve Wood

Supplies for Basic Needs

1. Plant trees and bamboo on homesteads, farms

and communal lands

2. Promote natural regeneration on and off farm

3. Introduce improved cook-stoves

Each on its own has limited impact, but

together, they can make a real difference on

deforestation

IMPROVED COOK STOVES

Goal: To use carbon credits to finance the cost of

supporting village households to install and use

improved cook stoves.

3-stone fire Improved Cook

Stove

Carbon

Credits

TLC Rocket Stove

TLC Half Wall Kitchen for Good Ventilation to

Reduce Respiratory/Eye Ailments from Smoke

Impacts of Improved Cook-Stoves

• Decreases exposure to respiratory diseases

• Lowers noxious effects of smoke to the lungs and eyes

• Eliminates severe burns to children falling into open fires

Health benefits

• Immediate effects on reducing deforestation

• Cuts wood use & CG emissions by 60% or more

• Lowers threats to climate change

Environment benefits

• 60% less time by women & girls to collect firewood

• Reduced sexual assaults from fewer trips to the bush

• Great opportunities for IGAs & education for girls

• Potential for carbon revenues

Social & Economic benefits

Emerging Opportunities for LandCare in

Malawi

• Sustainable Land Management Programmes Frameworks

• Various policies and acts in place (Draft National Climate change policy, National Environmental Policy 2004, Environmental Management Act 1996, NAPAs and NAP (under development) National Climate Investment Plan.

• National Agriculture Policy under Development

• DRM policy in placed

Government and political

will

• NGOs and Civil Society donor funding

• Adaptation funds, Green Climate funds etcDonor

Support

• Involvement of CGIAR and research organizations

• Improved partner collaboration and synergy (even

financial and banking sectors)

• Increased community awareness and participation

Improved Partner

coordination

Thanks for Listening !

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Information in this presentation was produced by Total

LandCare with support and collaboration from the

Governments of Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and

Zambia, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, USAID and

the British Government through DFID

TOTAL LANDCAREP.O. Box 2440

Area 14, Plot 100Lilongwe, Malawi

Tel: +265 1 770 904 / 905; Fax: +265 1 770 919Email: total.landcare.mw@gmail.com

Website: www.totallandcare.org

from the British people