As one way of conserving the environment, Total Land Care (TLC) is mobilizing communities to mould energy saving cooking stoves in Sabili Ng’oma village in the area of Traditional authority (T/A) Mabulabo in Mzimba district.
The initiative is being implemented under the Sustainable Food Systems for Rural Agriculture Transformation and Resilience (TRANSFORM) Project.
Addressing journalists during a media tour in the area, TLC field officer for Champhira Extension Planning Area (EPA), Mary Bowa, said they thought of starting the project of moulding Energy saving stoves to protect the game reserve which is close to the village.
“This village is close to Kakwale game reserve so in order to prevent people from cutting down trees carelessly for firewood, we thought of introducing the energy saving stoves in the village so that the trees can be saved”, says Bowa.
She adds the energy saving stoves use less firewood that makes people not to cut down a lot of trees. She has also said they (people) alternatively can just fetch a little amount of firewood and use it on the stoves.
“Apart from the introduction of the energy saving stoves in the area, TLC is also planting trees to replace the depleted area and also to conserve soil fertility,”
“For example, in 2021 TLC planted 150 thousand tree seedlings, 90 thousand trees in 2022 and this year TLC is expected to plant 147 thousand trees,” added Bowa adding the organization does not just plant any kind of trees but it focuses on trees such as acacia, Mtangatanga and Msangu trees that help in recovering the soil fertility.
As it is, a total of 84 families in Sabili Ng’oma village have benefited from moulding Energy saving stoves project which is targeting 2, 000 families across Champhira EPA.
In her remarks, Hilda Ng’oma, a leader in energy saving stoves and beneficiary from the project, says it saves time. She has also commended it for its efficiency.
Ng’oma further says the stoves are easy and cost-effective to mould as well as smart.
She has therefore encouraged fellow women to adopt the energy saving stoves, if they are to save firewood which she claimed to be scarce in the area.
Total Land Care is conducting the exercise coordinated by DCA/NCA Malawi with funding from the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
Find Your Feet, CADECOM, Anglican Council of Malawi and Total Land Care are some of the partners in the TRANSFORM Project.
