Funded by theEuropean Union 1

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This publicotion wos produced with the financial support ofthe Eurcpean Union. lts contents arc the sole rcsponsibility of COOPI

ond do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

TOP: Cross sections of crowdsthat came for the HIV awarenessevent.

BOTTOM: Part of the gamebetween Mafco FC and Salima5elect.

BOTTOM RIGHT: COOPI

agri-business expert MayamikoKamwendo delivering thecampaign. a

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ilflrililffitrilHlffiCompoign pulls crowds to Mtimosonjo;rhrongs of people from various cornersI of the shores of Lake Malawi in theI .r"u of Traditional Authority Kuluunda

in Salima district on Sunday 25 March 2017gathered at Mtimasonjo ground at KachuluVillage where they received messages aboutHIV and Aids.

This happened in the wake of a majorproject happening in the same area atLifuwu where the irrigation scheme is beingrehabilitated and expanded and farmers arebeing helped to have increased access tomarkets.

The main crowd-pulling activity duringthe event was a football match which wasplayed by a super league team under theMalawi Defence Force; Mafco FC againstSalima Select FC; a team of players pulledfrom various footballteams in Salimadistrict.

Alongside the football match was thevoluntary HIV and Aids counselling andtesting which was being done in tentserected near the pitch. Numbers of peoplecould be seen queuing outside to get freeHIV testing and to get condoms which were

also being distributed.There were alsodrama performances and live band music tospice up the event and pull more people tohear the messages.

Speaking during the eventTA Kuluundasaid that the campaign came at the righttime when people in the areas were stillbeing infected with HlV.

"We profoundly thank COOPI for thisinitiative and other activities that they havebeen doing in the area. At the end of theday we expect that we will be able to seesome changes in the behaviour of peoplemore especially the youths," she said.

Kuluunda added that the youths had tobe put at the core of such activities sincethey were future leaders and that role wouldnot be possible if they were disturbed bycompromised healthThe football matchended with Mafco beating Salima Selectwith 2 goals to nil.

About 3000 people came for the eventand more went for the HIV testing andcounselling until darkness started falling.

This activity was co-financed by the ltalianAgency for Development Cooperation.

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The new pumping station.

ounds of excavators, bulldozers, dumptrucks, welding machines, power

- generators, sand blasters and strong

smell of epoxy paints all characterise theconstruction of new infrastructure which ispart of the rehabilitation and expansionworks of the Lifuwu lrrigation Scheme inSalima from 63 to 182 irrigated hectares.

Funded by the European Union andimplemented by COOPI and Agricane, theproject will bring a sustainabletransformational change and fullfunctioning of the scheme through therehabilitation, expansion, provision ofequipment and training of the LifuwuCooperative to become a fully functionaland welFstructured body which will in theend progressively re-launch its role as anagro-business catalyser for Salima, and laterbecome a main national actor for

agricultural produce exports.And when they visited the construction

works at Lifuwu recently, officials from theEuropean Union and the MalawiGovernment - Ministry of Agriculture -

recommended the implementers and thecivil contractor for the good progress of thework.

The guests visited the construction of thenew water intake point and the pumpingstation at Lake Malawi, preparation of 700mm pipes to be laid, and the construction ofthe 37000 cubic meter reservoir to feed oldand new rice fields of the irrigation scheme.

"We are very happy with the work goingaround here. lt is quite commendable andwe hope the objectives of the project will beachievedi'said Geoffrey Mwepa, who isDeputy Director of lrrigation Services in theMinistry of Agriculture.

The newly installed transformer for thepumping station.

to the

greservoir site.

Lifuwu Rl(E

Part of the equipment near the rice paddies.

Excavation works at the 37000 cubic metre reservoir site.

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Laying of pipes in the trenches, all the way

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\THIS !S HOw WE DO lT: Felix Lungu irrigation section manager for lllovo - Dwangwa

explaining to the visitors from Lifuwu.

Lifuwu WUA learns irrigation

reservoir that is being constructed atLifuwu.

The WUA members were particularlyworried about the sandy soil at the sitewhere their reservoir was being constructedand were not sure how seepage would becontrolled. Despite technical explanationsmade by the project implementers andengineers, like on the use of clay soilcompacted on the base of the reservoir tohelp contain water, a visit to reservoirs ofsimilar nature was important so that themembers would practically see how thingswere done.

Orienting the members during the tour,Lungu said there was no need to worryabout Seepage if necessary measures weretaken.

"New reservoirs take time to properlysettle in terms of seepage. Some loss of

water may be experienced in the initialstages of storage but after some time thatstopsi'he said.

Complimenting Lungu, COOPI - SalimaProject Manager Cosimo Tendi said it wasgood that the WUA members had seen howreservoirs of that nature work.

"You have seen how the setup works. You

cannot make a base of concrete for theentire reservoir. That would need to be thickenough and the cost for such constructionwould even be higher," said Tendi.

Speaking on behalf of the Lifuwu WUAmembers Bizwick Nkhoma, who is vicepresident of the association, thanked COOPI

for organising the tour and also lllovo forthe warm reception.

"We have learnt a lot. We can now testifythat a water reservoir can contain waterwithout laying a concrete basei'said Nkhoma.

reservoir systems at Dwangwa-hursdav

I " of March 2018 will be a

! memoiable for members of the LifuwuI Water Users Association (WUA) as the

day when they toured irrigation systems atDwangwa - lllovo Sugar Company andappreciated how water reservoirs can beconstructed to avoid water seepage.

The tour comprised of visits to fourirrigation reservoirs of different storagecapacities at the sugar estate andexplanations by Felix Lungu, who isirrigation section manager at the company.

Under the project titled'Rehabilitationand expansion of medium scale riceirrigation scheme in Salima district andimprovement of farmers'access to marketsithe tour was organised by COOPI after theWUA members expressed anxiety at howloss of water through seepage would becontained in the 37000 cubic metres

iCommuni; As depreciation of natural forest cover is atI alarming levels in Malawi, community; members around Navingozi Hill in Lifuwu,I Salima district, are proud to have protected: trees in and around the hill for 14 yearsI now.i Upon realising that the area had beenI rendered bare with boulders and rocks as

i the most visible objects in the hill, thei community decided to guard it in order to: give time to the vegetation to grow again.I Navingozi isjust one area out of several

: others where COOPI is promoting naturali resource management in the district.; According to secretaryfor Navingozii Village Natural Resource Management; Group Bayina Jimmy, the group wasI established in 2004 and initially had 180

i members, as volunteers to protect theI natural resources in the area.

ty guards Navingozi Forest for 14 years

Bayina Jimmy:The trees have grown.

"We were 180 members we when startedbut over time the number kept going downuntil we reached 14. We the remnantsnever grew weary but kept on protectingthe forest until today as you can see. Thetrees have now grown and the hill looksbetter than it was,'she says.

Bayina further explains that to enhancesecurity of the forest, they linked up with all

the 9 traditional leaders around the area toadvise their subjects on the need to protectthe forest and the punitive measures thatwould be unleashed to those whodisobeyed.

"When we caught some memberscutting down trees and realised that thechiefs were not forth coming in handlingthe cases, we decided to be taking all

offenders we caught direct to Police so thatothers would learn from that," she said.

The group comprises 4 men and l0women who are divided into two teams toguard the forest. Each team has 2 men and5 women.

The conservation ofthe tree cover in thebuffer zone of the Lifuwu lrrigation Schemewill also ensure that there is reduced soil

erosion into the fields.

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n the 9'h of March travel blogger andfounder of GirlsvsGlobe.com, SabinaTrojanova, who is documenting EU

projects across the world, visited Malawi tolearn about various projects, including theone managed by COOPI in Salima titled:'Rehabilitation and expansion of mediumscale rice irrigation scheme in Salima districtand improvement of farmers'access tomarkets' is being imPlemented.

Sabina was guided through the waterintake and pumping infrastructure whereshe talked with Fleming Janga, an engineerof Agricane who is partnering the project.

Janga said the pumping station would be

tested when power had been installed fromthe grid and the reservoir could also containwater. He was also optimistic that theproject would bring improved irrigationfarming activities among the Lifuwu Rice

Growers Cooperative members, who are the

main beneficiaries of the irrigation scheme.

Sabina also toured the rice paddiesandvisited site of the 37000 cubic metre storagefacility where the water will be pumped inovernight and used during the day in thepaddies.

She also interacted with women from theLifuwu Natural Resource ManagementCommittee led by Bayina Jimmy at thecooperative facilities. Jimmy explained mapof the Lifuwu lrrigation Scheme and thebuffer zone and significance it had to thepeople working in the irrigation scheme andits buffer zone.

'All the areas showing the sYmbol ofgrazing area are the ones where our animalsmust go to feed, and not in the fields whichhave cropsi'said Jimmy who also hinted thatthey have just formulated by-laws which are

meant to prevent people from leaving theiranimals to graze anyhow and thus also

infesting crop fields.At Lifuwu Primary School the blogger

witnessed how pupils play the Game Board,

that is based on a satellite image of the area,

moving along the path using dice andanswering questions. The kids illustratedthrough the game how to take care of theresourceS.

Head teacher for the school Nathan

Sambo said game board was PlaYing a

crucial role in sharpening thinking and

language skills of the pupils. "When the kids

ptay the game board, they are able to follow

the instructions they are given, think and

give the right answers," he said.Sabina also interacted with irrigation

engineer for the project Gift German, whogave insights into the construction worksand how the Lifuwu Rice GrowersCooperative would benefit.

filling

g

Katete kids drilled in tree seed sowing and careHarnessing quick-toJearn attributes thatyoung people usually have, COOPI engaged

84 pupils from Katete Junior Primary School

on the 1 9th of January 201 8 whereby therewere given lessons on environmental

conservation at Nawanga Village in theLifuwu area.

According to Joel Ngwira, who is natural

resources management officer for the on-

going three year project in the area which is

focussing on the rehabilitation and

expansion of the Lifuwu lrrigation Scheme,

the pupils were specifically taught how to

fill soil in the tubes, sow tree seeds and

water the plants.

?fter getting the lessons the kids wereto take the tubes sowed with

seeds to their homes and explain to others

about that and also continue taking care ofthe seeds, through watering, until the seeds

had germinated," he said.

Ngwira emphasised that aim of thetraining was to impart knowledge to thekids so that they could grow up with themindset of taking care of natural resources

and they could also teach others in the areas

where they came from.Meanwhile training of the kids from

Katete was not the last one to be done as

COOPI will also extend the knowledge toother schools in the catchment area oftheproject. so that kids were aware of theimportance of natural resources such as

trees especially in the project buffer zone. soil in the tubes.

Lifuwu Rlff

Jem* nur$w! &Some of the pupils