Eagles Relief and Development programme, a humanitarian arm of the Living Waters Church International has bailed out 500 smallholder farmers with maize seeds in the area of Sub-Traditional Authority Chimatiro in Balaka district.
The organization’s project officer responsible for the Balaka district, Mac Donald Buleya, hopes the farmers will maximize their harvests and improve their communities’ food security.
Buleya says he is impressed with these farmers, who have been imparted with modern and innovative farming techniques, including the preparation of local fertilizer (Mbeya manure), which is said to be environmentally friendly and increases soil fertility in the soil without causing any damage.
Each farmer received a pack of maize seeds of Kanyani SC 419 weighing 2 Kilograms.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of Chimatiro Area Development Committee (ADC), Rodrick Kamwana, appealed to the farmers to put much emphasis on planting drought-resistant varieties, which he says has the potential to enable the farmers to avert the possibility of hunger and increase yields.
One of the beneficiaries, Martha Jack said the donation has come at an opportune time as the planting exercise is just around the corner.
“This donation will go a long way in addressing the challenge of farm inputs that I was facing in readiness for the planting exercise. I was desperate but now, this donation has changed everything,” said Jack.
The organization has also donated farm inputs such as fertilizer, pigeon peas and cowpeas to lead farmers to use on demonstration plots.
According to the organization, the donation is part of the Environmental and Economic Sustainable Approaches (EES)
the project, which is receiving financial support from a United Kingdom-based Christian charity, Tearfund.
The donation is valued at K9.1 million.
