Ntawila family from Makungula Village, Traditional Authority Nkagula in Zomba say electricity blackouts have greatly affected their dairy and poultry farming businesses.
Gloria and Lovemore Ntawila told Malawi 24 that they started daily farming in 1999 with two cows and that the family has nine cows that provide a lot of milk for sales.
“Power blackout is a big setback ,” Gloria Ntawila said, adding that the family collects 40 litres a day but some of the milk goes bad in times of blackouts that last many hours.
Ntawila added that the daily electricity blackouts are also affecting their layers and broilers as the chicken fail to feed in the darkness.
“Dairy and poultry farming usually make good profits because we sell milk, eggs and chickens almost daily” Lovemore Ntawila said, adding that things could go a bit better than this had it not been for electricity blackouts.
Despites the challenges, the family nevertheless pays their daughters school fees at Stella Maris Secondary while planning to construct a modern house apart from building additional chicken pens and kraals for the cows.
Without necessarily depending on electricity, Mtawila family also do carpentry and joinery which produces furniture that provides extra family income that keeps them going.
Makungula area in Zomba faces longer hours of electricity blackouts either in the day or night.
Across Malawi, daily blackouts last eight hours a day. Government says the challenges will end in December this year when rehabilitation of Kapichira Power Plant is completed.
