By Mubanga Mubanga
Zambia’s High Commissioner to Malawi Colonel Panji Kaunda says there is need to take Zambian technical experts to Malawi so that they learn how to utilise water resources to carry out irrigation farming.
Speaking when he visited the Natama irrigation in Traditional Authority (T/A) in Malawi’s Ntchema district, in Malawi on Sunday, Col Panji said Zambia could learn from the technical experts in Malawi on how to do irrigation farming which they were using to combat hunger.
“In Zambia, we have so many big rivers but no such scheme as we are seeing here. We need to bring technical experts to learn from this,” said Kaunda.
He expressed delight with the testimonies which were coming from the farmers, with some of them managing to even take their childrens to school and buy motorbikes.
“From the testimonies, we have heard from the farmers, there is no hunger and poverty among the households using the scheme,” Col Panji said. “They are able to take their time to school and even purchase motorbikes.”
Col Panji, however, noted that the farmers were using chemical fertilizers instead of organic manure.
“We have also seen some farmers burning crop residues that could otherwise improve soil fertility,” Col Panji said.
And irrigation scheme Chairperson Waliwoni Billiwita said the scheme supported 73 households including 38 women.
He said last year the scheme realised K17 million (Malawian Kwacha) from selling their produce.
