So far, our agriculture and forestry programmes have consisted of several small-scale projects.

These are aimed at involving and educating the local community about the range of crops they can grow to contribute to a more nutritional diet. We have also started a budding community tree nursery and are currently undertaking some long-term research to inform the direction of our future projects.

• Agricultural Training Centre
• Community Forestry
• Wetlands Utilisation
• Food and Nutrition Security

The centre is a small showcase of what can be grown. It demonstrates small-scale methods of irrigation, compost and manure use and how to use a variety of plants as pest deterrents. We hope this will offer further assistance to the many people who grow their own produce.

Back in 2007, we divided up part of the centre into easily manageable plots and offered them to any individual or group interested in learning about horticulture. Within a week the plots were snapped up. Since then, a handful of groups (including a female trio) have been regular garden attendees: hoeing, watering, planting and weeding. All of this has been done under the watchful eye of Godrick who manages the Temwa garden.

Now that the garden is blooming, Godrick and Benson have been running open days.

People from the community can come for a guided tour of the garden, learn about the experiments we are doing, ask questions and share their own knowledge. The first open day was in June 2007. It was mainly focused on the people who had taken up the offer of plots in the Temwa garden and, as such, was well attended.

Since 2008, there have also been several training sessions run in the centre. These cover basic agricultural training, pest management and soil fertility training. They are open to anyone in the community that wants to attend.

Community Forestry

•  The deforestation rate in Malawi is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa (NYT, 2005)

•  Over 120,000 acres of indigenous trees are lost every year to deforestation (GAF, 2005)

•  In the last decade, 30% of the forests in Malawi have been wiped out (GAF, 2005)

Deforestation is a huge problem in the Nkhata Bay North region.

Late 2007 saw the implementation of our community forestry project, which is being backed by the International Tree Foundation (ITF). It began with the creation of a community-owned demonstration and training nursery.

The project's objective is to:

• Create awareness about the need to conserve forests
• Implement the re-forestation of bare lands through the establishment of tree nurseries
• Plant trees in communal, institutional and household woodlots
• Improve the knowledge and skills of the targeted population through training and demonstration

Six volunteers were selected to be the custodians of the nursery. These volunteers completed a two-day training course which was given by the Mkondezi Research Station. It focussed on fruit production and included step-by-step methods for constructing a tree nursery, up to the propagation of the trees. The trainers were very pleased with the group's willingness to learn and their ability to pick things up quickly.

The end of July 2008 marked the completion of the first year in the Usisya Fruit Tree Nursery.

Besides completing their initial training, they have:

• Constructed the nursery
• Planted and raised over 1,500 saplings
• Out-planted seedlings into gardens and orchards
• Transplanted agro-forestry tree species into fields and gardens 
• Created several community citrus fruit tree orchards

The target for the tree nursery is for 16,000 (6,000 indigenous and 10,000 fruit) tree seedlings to be raised. 

By July 2010 the nursery had raised almost 11,000 seedlings.

After the success of the Usisya Fruit Tree Nursery, 5 schools have been selected to create tree nurseries. Each nursery is looked after by a management committee of 10 members, who have all been trained in tree nursery raising and management. These nurseries will only be raising indigenous trees, including Pine, Masau and Blue Gum. The target number of seedlings for the 5 nurseries is 20,000 and they are close to meeting that target with nearly 17,000 seedlings raised so far.

By the end of 2011, Temwa will have planted 50,000 trees in the area.

We have expanded this project over the coming years by creating more community-owned tree nurseries throughout Usisya. The Temwa team has continued to work with ITF to build on the experience and knowledge gained in this initial project in order to address the current problem of deforestation in the area.

This project has also been funded since October 2009 by Sift Media.

Degree Tree

The 'Degree Tree' project began in September 2010 and is the brainchild of UWE student Kirsty Smith. Kirsty wanted every graduating student to plant a Degree Tree. This would not only enable them to offset the paper they use during their degree, but would also help to promote sustainability among other students. This is being undertaken in partnership with the University of the West of England's 'Better Together Fund' and involves planting a tree in Malawi for every one of the 6000 students that graduated in 2010.

Many species of tree were planted in early 2011 in specially designated tree nurseries and the saplings will be transplanted during the upcoming rainy season. We will also be planting a few ceremonial trees on the UWE campus, as well as providing students and staff with a presentation about the project in the hope that it can become self-sustaining in the future. This could involve the students themselves donating to have a tree planted at the end of their studies.

Temwa would like to send a huge thank you to Kirsty Smith for coming up with the idea, as well as to the 'Better Together Fund' for providing the grant to enable this project to happen.

Trees for Life

Deforestation is devastating rural communities in Malawi. Every year, over 120,000 hectares of forest are lost to logging, industry and farming. Sadly this is mostly due to communities not being aware of how important the trees are.

We URGENTLY need to plant another 250,000 trees in this area by August 2012, which is before the rainy season starts in Malawi. We also hope to expand our efforts in educating the community about the importance and management of trees. To do this, we need to raise £25,000 from supporters like you. It's a big number, but we can get there and you can help.

Visit the Trees for Life page for more information.

Wetlands Utilisation

Since November 2009, Temwa has been training vulnerable households in wetlands management in Nkhata Bay North, along the remote north-eastern shores of Lake Malawi.  

Vulnerable households are defined as families affected by HIV & AIDS, female-headed households and widows, orphan-hosting families and child-headed households.

This project promotes soil and water management technologies because this will help to alleviate the effects of poor soil on agricultural production and promote food security among households. There is great potential to increase the yield from the small gardens these people are cultivating if they utilise the wetlands throughout the year.

In October 2010, Temwa received renewed funding from LUSH for this project. 

Phase II began in January 2011, with a completion date of September 2012. The next phase will aim to reach nearly 400 households in the region. This will result in increased food security for thousands of people over this period.

Project activities will take place in two eco-zones: a) wetlands in the hilly areas and b) wetlands along the lakeshore.

They include:

• Two-day training on wetland management
• Crop agronomy selection
• Soil and moisture conservation technology training
• Soil fertility training
• Business management training
• Field days
• Farmer exchange visits

The beneficiaries will belong to existing groups or will be encouraged to form groups so that the benefits distributed to them can be paid back for the creation of a fund seed bank. Members make a commitment to contribute to the Group Fund which should support and enable them to buy their own seed the following season.

Recoveries from vegetables will be in the form of money from sales paid to the group and recoveries from maize will be in the form of grain paid to the group. The amount of money and quantity of grain to be paid back will be determined by the group on the principle that the activities should be self-sustaining. Grain recovered will be sold by the group to raise money for seed the following season.

The start of August 2011 saw the arrival of a new volunteer in Usisya. Hope Thornton started a six-month contract as a Food and Nutrition Advisor. She will be working alongside our Project Manager - Nyambe Luhila - to design and plan an effective programme which will address the food and nutritional needs of the communities there.

Her responsibilities include completing a baseline food and nutrition survey and planning individual projects such as: nutrition education, a small-scale irrigation demonstration scheme and establishing a demonstration fruit tree orchard with seedlings from the Usisya Fruit Tree Nursery.

Hope has recently completed the data collection for her survey. Next, she has to compile and analyse the data before she begins designing and planning an effective programme to address Usisya's nutritional needs.