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WFP's irrigation scheme opens market for farmers in Nsanje
WFP's irrigation scheme in Nsanje provides markets for farmers who lacked reliable ones-Cornelius Lupenga.
Malawi: Farmers who lacked reliable markets for their farm products now have access to the market thanks to the World Food Programme's (WFP) establishment of an irrigation system in Nsanje, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
Members of the Tapulumuka Irrigation Scheme haven't had ready markets for their goods since the scheme's implementation in 2017, but thanks to WFP's intervention in September 2022, things have improved.
The 5.2-hectare Tapulumuka Irrigation Scheme is home to 98 farmers, 62 of whom are women and 36 men. Each farmer is given a plot of land that is 50 by 10 metres in size.
It has six 10,000-litre capacity solar-powered tanks. The waters are sufficient to irrigate the agricultural area.
The WFP's Home Grown Program, which is a part of the scheme, allows farmers to donate their farm products to organisations like Bangula Primary School.
The farmers claim that initially, they were running a Food For Asset-FFA programme where they were praised for their diligence and given assets as compensation.
This development led the WFP to think about implementing an irrigation system in the region.
In order to improve their means of subsistence in the communities, the farmers, according to scheme participant Charles Kulima, aimed to grow crops for both consumption and sale.
On the allotted plot of land, he claimed, farmers grow maize, groundnuts, beans, onions, and eggplants, to name a few.
Kulima said that farmers' reliance on rain-fed agriculture has been completely replaced by irrigation.
He said, "crops are not suffering as much as they used to with the rain-fed agriculture due to erratic rainfall."
Kulima added that farmers are reaping significant profits from the sale of the scheme's produce.
Kulima agreed with Annie Moyo, one of the beneficiaries, when she said that the sales of the various cash crops that farmers are now growing have helped them grow economically and socially.
She revealed that many of the farmers participating in the programme had experienced financial change, with some purchasing iron sheets, motorcycles, and bicycles with money made from the sale of farm products.
Moyo added that some programme participants have standard homes, while others are now able to cover their children's secondary school and college tuition fees.
Moyo said, "Our families have food security and are not affected by hunger in some months of the year as they were before the scheme was established."
The Home Grown School Feeding Program, where the farmers sell their farm products, was introduced to them by the WFP, which was praised by the program's chairperson, Charles Tsamba.
He claimed that the Home Grown Program's organised and well-established markets were assisting farmers in making sizable profits.
Tsamba said, "Last year, as part of the Home Grown Program, we donated the profits we made from our supplies to Bangula Primary School."
While the farmers are singing their praises for having markets where they can sell their goods and make money, they bemoan the solar panels' inability to irrigate the entire 5.2 hectares.
Farmers are scurrying for pipes because there is a complete shortage of water supply pipes, according to farmer Dave Andrew.
The farmers are currently searching for an additional six solar-powered panels that could provide an extra 10,000 litres of water that could be distributed evenly over the 5.2 hectares.
Additionally, the farmers told this publication that in order to boost their profit margins, they would like to sell to more institutions.
According to the farmers, the Tapulumuka Irrigation Scheme intends to begin cultivating bananas and has already prepared 150 of the planned 300 holes for planting the crop.