The Malawi Government has disclosed that research is key to addressing the adverse effects of climate change and maximizing agricultural production and productivity.
Director of Land Resource Management in the Ministry of Agriculture, Gertrude Kambauwa, Kambauwa made the remarks on Tuesday when she opened a half-day National Research Dissemination Workshop in Lilongwe.
MwAPATA Institute organized the workshop in partnership with Africa Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
Kambauwa said Malawi, just like many other African countries, is facing disproportionately high effects of the impact of climate change than other parts of the world.
She lamented that Southern Africa is experiencing climate disasters and shocks that have affected agricultural production and productivity.
“You will agree with me that in recent years until early this year, Malawi and other countries in the Southern part of Africa such as Mozambique have not been impacted by the weather-related shocks that are becoming more intense and more frequent because of climate change. As a nation, Malawi has been hit by drought, late onset of rains, early stoppage of rains, pests and diseases like the fall armyworm and, of course, recently, the cyclones, among many others,” said Kambauwa.
She added, “To the disadvantage of Africa, the continent and its people are ill-equipped to cope with climate change challenges. Climate change negatively affects agricultural production and productivity, hence negatively affecting income and food security. As a result, many people in Africa are at risk of poverty and food insecurity because of the impacts of climate change.”
However, Kambauwa pointed out that the Malawi Government is working tirelessly with its development partners to ensure that the country designs and implements programs that build resilient livelihoods to ensure sustained food security for the nations.
She said the Ministry of Agriculture is, among others, encouraging the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices as a way of addressing challenges faced in agriculture production.
“Farmers are highly encouraged through the different routes set by the Ministry of Agriculture to plant early maturing and drought resistant varieties of maize and other crops, use mulching for moisture retention, retain or incorporate crop residues into the soil instead of burning, in-situ rainwater harvesting, agroforestry as well as, crop rotation among other practices,” she said.
In his welcome remarks, MwAPATA Institute Executive Director, William Chadza, said the research findings disseminated at the workshop will help farmers and policymakers to make informed decisions going forward.
As much as researches are being done, I think the approach plays a part as most of the researches use top-down approach in the end implementation is difficult. Implementation is as important as the research for better results.