By Victor Mughogho | Project Leader
PROJECT REPORT TO GLOBALGIVING. 8TH JUNE 2022
Project #50162: Empower 30 Malawian Families with Solar Irrigation by Eagles Relief and Development Programme International
Find below the status of the Project #50162 with a goal to empower 30 Malawian Families with Solar Irrigation Farming.
Project Location
The project is being implemented in Balaka District, Southern Region of Malawi. The district is disaster prone. With frequent droughts as a result climate change, farmers do not harvest enough to feed their families throughout the year.
Project Context and Cyclone Impacts
In the previous report, we reported the delay of the first rains by at least 2 months, with the rains coming after mid-December 2021 instead of October 2021. Tragically on January 24th 2022, a tropical cyclone Ana hit Southern Region of Malawi, wreaking havoc and damage to infrastructure, crop fields, coupled with loss of lives and livestock as well. Severe flooding was reported across 16 districts and 2 cities in southern Malawi, leaving at least 990,000 people in need of life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance and protection, including more than 190,400 people who were displaced by floods. Of these, an estimated 680,000 people in need were concentrated in the six districts hardest-hit by the crisis, Balaka inclusive (6th most affected). At least 46 people were killed by the floods (with some missing) and more than 200 were injured, according to the Government of Malawi. The President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera declared a State of National Disaster on 26 January 2022. (Malawi Tropical Storm Ana Flash Appeal - Feb-Apr 2022.pdf)[1]
The impact of the cyclone disaster was huge on the irrigation site, considering the fact that 8 hectares of irrigable land had either its banks broken and eroded by surface run off or silted; both rendering the banks difficult to construct terraces that aid the lifting of water from the source to point of irrigation.
Project Implementation Progress
Inspite of the huge negative impact cyclone Ana inflicted on the scheme, the farmers bounced back with various activities within the month of April 2022. This is a reflection of the fact that, despite the trauma farmers went through during and after the cyclone, farmers still have the desire to cultivate different crops bearing in mind that irrigation farming is considered their main source of livelihood that provides them with the basic needs for their families.
Land preparation, seed sowing and transplanting were some of the activities farmers embarked on in the month of April, 2022 when the rains tailed off. Nearly 4 hectares of the earmarked 8 had beds constructed and seed sown. Following the sowing, approximately 1 hectare of the 4 has been cultivated, using residual moisture, with different seed types of vegetables grown such as Chinese, rape, okra, cabbage, tomato to mention but a few. The remaining 3 hectares were sown later after the seedlings reached transplantable stage. A total of 45 farmers (27 women,18 men) each owning an average of 0.1 hectares of land are participants of the said activities. The current forms of irrigation remain use of residual moisture in the aftermath of the rains and cyclone, and other crops are irrigated using watering cans as well as rented motorized pumps.
Fundraising Goal
With the fundraising goal of $50,000 to be raised to enable Eagles establish a solar powered irrigation system that would support 30 Malawian families to grow crops throughout the year, $25 993 has so far been raised, up by $992 since December 21 2021. The communities eagerly look forward to the time the solar powered system is up and running. To accomplish this objective, $24,007 stillneedto be raised. A contractor has since been identified to set the system once the funds suffice. Help us reach that goal.
On behalf of Eagles and the farmers, I would like to thank you very much for your generous support this far.
Yours sincerely Victor Mughogho, Project Leader.
[1] Malawi Tropical Storm Ana Flash Appeal - Feb-Apr 2022.pdf (un.org)
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
