Author: Lester Mhone

The Copyright Fund of Malawi has urged stakeholders in the arts sector to utilize their talent to help the nation source foreign currency.

Announcing the winners of the 5th call for proposals today in Lilongwe, the fund committee’s chairperson, Robert Kapsyepsye, stated that talented individuals should start thinking beyond the country’s borders and market their talents globally.

“As you know, the economic blueprint for Malawi, Malawi 2063, is very clear about exposing Malawian products on the international market as a way of generating foreign currency,” Kapsyepsye explained.

“When we look at SADC platforms like Zambia and South Africa, you’ll see that the GDP contribution from their cultural and arts sector is very encouraging, probably hovering around 10 to 16%, while ours, I think, is around 2 to 3%,” he added.

Kapsyepsye believes that Malawi’s arts and creative industry is now ready to compete in the international market, thereby assisting the government in forex generation.

“The government is also implementing the ATM strategy, so arts can attract or complement efforts in tourism. We believe that if we encourage our artists to go out and compete, their work can successfully compete on the international market and generate forex for their own well-being as well as the sustainability of the Malawian economy. Therefore, we believe supporting those with capacity is a move in the right direction towards achieving Malawi 2063,” he elaborated.

Today, the fund disbursed 161 million Kwacha to 18 projects, bringing the total amount disbursed since the program’s inception to 430 million Kwacha.

One of the recipients, musician Theresa Phondo, who has been granted 19,091,600.00 Malawi kwacha, expressed confidence that the funding will enable her project to collaborate with an international artist from Kenya.

“I am very excited to have been granted this fund. The project we pitched involves my team and me going to Kenya. A Kenyan artist named Guardian Angel reached out and said he wanted to work with me, and he sent a song. I went to the studio, and we recorded the song. So, what we want to do is shoot a music video, not just one, but also another one in Kenya,” Phondo explained.

“We also have plans to do a joint event with Guardian Angel, co-funded by both of us. Additionally, we want to attend workshops they hold in Kenya, where they discuss the music business at a global level and other music-related content,” she added.

Ngale 42b Arts Centre, sustainable cape Maclear, Likoma secondary school and musician Dan Lu, are among the 18 awarded in the 5^th cohort.

The 6th call for proposals has since been opened today, where 10 projects will be selected to showcase their talents outside the country.

 

Some stakeholders in the environmental sector have voiced their concerns regarding the reported pardon of a Chinese national, Lin, who was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for wildlife trafficking.

 

Lin is believed to be among the individuals who benefited during this year’s president Lazarus Chakwera’s Easter celebrations pardon list.

 

The CSO’s, which include the National Youth Network on Climate Change, Movement for Environmental Action, Coordination Union for Rehabilitation of the Environment (CURE), Association for Environmental Journalists, and Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy, believe this will negatively impact efforts to strengthen wildlife protection and combat wildlife crimes.

 

Speaking on behalf of the CSO’s, the Executive Director of CURE, Charles Mkoka, stated that the time has come for authorities to start treating wildlife crime cases as seriously as rape and corruption.

 

“We have been told that this person is now a free person, and we are very worried because at this particular time, as Malawi, we are moving towards revolving our wildlife sector, ensuring that the species are growing,” explained Mkoka.

 

“It is very worrisome to see that within a short span of time, this particular person has actually benefited from the time of COVID, and we wanted to make sure that at least we should be able to move towards engaging authorities so that cases involving wildlife should be regarded as serious offenses in Malawi,” he added.

 

Mkoka then urged authorities to exclude wildlife crimes from all future pardons and emphasized the need for authorities not to be reluctant with information on matters of national interest, in line with the access to information act in the country.

 

“Now we want to make sure that we increase public awareness because these are matters of national importance,” he said.

 

He is of the view that the ATM strategy, which is being advocated in the Malawi 2063 agenda, can be realized if authorities are seriously involved in the management of wildlife conservation, as the tourism sector can only grow if wildlife species are fully protected.

 

Lin was convicted in 2021 after being found guilty of wildlife crimes, as he was found in possession of pangolin scales, elephant ivory, hippo teeth, and rhino horn, respectively.

 

The government remains quiet on various calls regarding the release of individuals who benefited from this year’s President Chakwera’s pardon as part of Easter celebrations.

The Centre for agricultural transformation (CAT), has expressed satisfaction with the results realized from the interventions the organization is implementing with its stakeholders on smart agriculture where smallholder farmers in the country are being encouraged to diversify and adopt climate resilient crops.

CAT Executive Director, Macleod Nkhoma, says for the past five years the organization has been working on the concept, some farmers have now started rejoicing over bumper yields after embracing smart agriculture practices.

Today, the organization showcased various modern farming technologies to about two thousand farmers from selected districts in all regions of the country, during a farmer field day under the theme ‘‘climate-resilient agricultural technologies and crop diversification for sustainable food security” at its NRC Smart-Farm in Lilongwe, so that farmers should emulate the same at their respective fields.

“Smart agriculture, you start looking at the condition of the soils. You want to start there, that the soils are in a condition that crops can grow well. But also, the other thing is that smart agriculture looks at having diversified crops that our farmers can produce. The reason for that is that in case one of the crops fails, at least they will have something from another crop,” Nkhoma emphasized.

“We have got weather stations here. We call them ground sensors. These ones give us information, agricultural information, that is very important for crop production, but also the other thing about smart agriculture is that you’ve seen here we have irrigation facilities to ensure that in case there is some drought, we can still irrigate. And so, the ground sensors will send us information that the soil’s moisture has dropped at a certain level and our technicians will trigger the irrigation to actually irrigate the crops,” he added.

Deputy director responsible for field crops in the ministry of Agriculture, Osborne Tsoka, expressed hopes that the country can alleviate hunger if farmers can embrace modern farming technologies.

‘’when it comes to maize, they’re getting barely below around 2.3 metric tons per hectare. But when you look at the technologies that are being showcased here, we are getting the yields as high as 8 metric tons per hectare,’’ Tsoka hoped.

The vice president and Country Director for Global Action to end smoking through the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI), Dr. Candida Nakhumwa, the funding partners for the Project, expressed her impression with the progress that has been made in as far as diversifying farmers to stop relying only on Tobacco as their cash crop is concerned.

’’as you have seen on the field, they’ve diversified into oil seed crops, especially soya beans and groundnuts. And for soyabeans, what we’ve seen is that it has readily available domestic market, as we see an increase in the need for fish feeds, livestock feeds in general,” Nakhumwa explained.

Nakhumwa then disclosed their continued partnership with CAT as they are also looking to help farmers compete on the international market through value addition.

“We have built the Centre for Agricultural Transformation. And the idea is that we want to bring in an element of value addition. We want to bring in an element where farmers or entrepreneurs that would like to venture into value addition, and so we’ve assisted to begin to understand, how do I process peanut butter? How do I process cooking oil? Before they engage with the Malawi Bureau of Standards, we want them to be at the lab here, where the costs are slightly lower. They should test their products, and then the engagement with the Malawi Bureau of Standards comes at the end,” she added.

Emanuel Yendemani Mwale from Madzo cooperative in Madisi, praised CAT for the knowledge saying now they are realizing bountiful yields since they started using smart agriculture technologies.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe today officially launched Bishop Patrick Kalilombe Catholic High School, which is owned by the Association of the Diocesan Catholic Clergy of Lilongwe (ADCCOL).

 

The launch took place today at the school’s premises in Nambuma, Dowa district.

Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of the Lilongwe Archdiocese presided over the official opening Mass and the blessing of the school, formerly known as Answer Private Academy.

 

The school has been named in honor of the first Malawian Bishop of the Diocese of Lilongwe, Patrick Kalilombe, to commemorate his legacy, which emphasized a self-reliant church as he initiated the first synod of Mpingo ndife tonse.

 

Archbishop Tambala commended the priests of ADCCOL for taking on the role of providing quality education to the country, in addition to offering spiritual well-being to the faithful.

 

His Grace disclosed that the school will now be operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Mombasa on behalf of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

 

ADCCOL representative Father Augustine Katundu commended the parish priests in the archdiocese for offering financial support during the process of purchasing the school and specifically mentioned Fr. Louis Chikanya, Fr. Charles Phiri, Fr. Francis Lekaleka, Fr. Khembo, and Fr. Mtapaonga for their dedication to the project.

 

Former board chairperson of the school, Mr. Mnewa, confirmed that all necessary procedures were followed and assured the public that the school now belongs to ADCCOL.

 

Mr. Mnewa believes the Catholic Church will help to fulfill the vision of the former director, David Eleazor Dymon, which is to assist the community and the country at large by providing quality education.

 

The Central East Education Division Principal Quality Assurance Officer, Andrew Mkomba, mentioned that the government expects the school to continue to be among the top private schools in the district in terms of learners’ performance during MSCE examinations, as well as student discipline.

 

Mkomba also commended the Catholic Church for being part and parcel of uplifting education standards in the country, acknowledging that the government cannot manage everything on its own.

 

A student representative expressed belief that the school will help them become outstanding students by receiving the most desirable education as they expect to be trained to value hard work and respect for the Lord.

 

Senior Chief Kayembe of the area urged the students to work hard, emphasizing that education is key to success.

 

She conveyed her excitement that the school is located in her area, believing that the area will be transformed.

 

Bishop Patrick Kalilombe Catholic High School is located 20 kilometers from Kamuzu International Airport via the M’bang’ombe road and 11 kilometers from Chimwanza Trading Centre, off the Nambuma turn-off.

An agricultural expert, Kingdom Kwapata has described the minimum farm-gate prices set by the Ministry of Agriculture as not a true reflection of the reality on the ground.

 

The government has released the prices where among others maize will be sold at 1050 kwacha per kilogram.

According to Kwapata, the prices will start rising in due course considering that the country is undergoing a recession period.

 

“We are not expecting to have a lot of maize this year because of quarries among other reasons, farmers did not access fertilizer as you know fertilizer was expensive and this combined with the poor rains will cause the scarcity of the commodity leading to increase in prices,” Kwapata explained in an interview.

 

Kwapata added that “we are projecting that probably within due course the real price of maize will be reflected.”

 

The expert has however urged farmers who can manage to withhold their commodity for sometime to do so, so that they can sell it at a higher price in the future.

 

“It is just unfortunate that many farmers at the moment don’t have money or resources and therefore they are desperate for access to resources. That is why they are compelled to sell at that price, but believe you me, very soon the commodity will escalate,” he explained.

 

Some farmers in the country have been faced with draught problems that are likely to reduce their harvest this year.

Plan International Malawi has reiterated its commitment to humanitarian works, citing it as a central part of its operations in the country.

 

Plan International Malawi Technical Lead and Communications Specialist Winnie Botha, says the organization supports the vulnerable populations including the internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers when it comes to humanitarian works.

 

“It is our commitment, because humanitarian work is one of the core works that we do, apart from inclusive quality education, sexual reproductive rights, and campaigns that we implement. Humanitarian work is a cross-cutting issue that we do,” she explained.

 

Botha mentioned that the organization has a specific project at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, where it provides assistance to those affected by displacement.

 

She also mentioned that the organization responds to emergencies, such as natural disasters, in 14 districts across the country.

 

“We also work in emergencies, like disasters, and any other emergencies that you may think of in 14 districts where we work in, so we remain committed in humanitarian,” she added.

 

Botha emphasized that the organization remains committed to its humanitarian work, with a particular focus on supporting female-headed households, child-headed households, and young people.

 

“At the moment we still have budgets targeting female-headed households, and young people in general, to address crises and maybe for them to remain resilient,” she emphasized.

 

According to Botha, the organization is currently investing in disaster resilience and preparedness interventions with the aim of helping communities to recover from crises and remain resilient in the face of adversity.

 

Plan International Malawi in partnership with Misa Malawi were drilling journalists from some selected community radio stations across the country, on humanitarian, emergency and gender inclusion in Salima district.