I hope your are not superstitious but its Friday the 13th today, and instead of hiding under the bed clothes you just have to get out there and take your chances. Yesterday I was highlighting the great work that Find Your Feet do in India, well they also do great work in Africa. They are currently working with 9,800 vulnerable people living in rural Malawi to build lasting solutions to poverty. They are enabling farmers to improve their harvests, families to cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS and communities to conserve natural resources that are vital for their livlihood. Malawi is a small landlocked country in Southern africa, is one of the poorest countries in the World. The majority of the population live in poverty and find it difficult to meet their basic needs like food, clean water and shelter. With few employment opportunities, the majority of people living in malawi are dependent on agriculture-both to provide food for their families to eat and when they manage to grow a surplus, an income that pays for medicine, school books and clothes.
Malawi was largely self sufficient in food until the 1970s when it felt the effects of the slump in world trade and escalating debt repayments. Now one of the biggest problems many Malawians face is food production. degraded soils, erratic weather conditions, limited availability of land and a lack of resources to buy tools or seeds mean that many farmers struggle to grow enough food to feed their families all year round. Find Your feet are working in Central and Northern malawi with the most vulnerable groups in society-landless farmers, women and people affected by HIV/AIDS- who face a daily struggle to provide the most basic necessities for their family.
Improing Harvests and Overcoming the effects of drought - Erratic weather conditions and frequent droughts mean many families suffer severe food shortages. We are training farmers in sustainable farming and irrigation techniques that enable them to grow crops even during the dry season, ensuring their families have food all year round. "By working with Find Your Feet, I've come forward as a farmer, Now my farmers group plants vetiver grass around the fields to control run-off, we make compost to enrich the soil and we've learnt how to build and maintain canals for irrigation. The irrigation farming has allowed me to supplement my normal harvest. I'm just about to have my second harvest of the year, at a time when most people have finished their food stocks. Now i have food all year round and I can sell some of my produce to earn an income to support my family ". - Benjamin from the Tiyese farmers group project.
Conserving Natural resources - deforestation represents a major challenge to communities we work with in malawi as the resources upon which farmers depend for their livelihood are being destroyed. We are working with community members to understand the importance of the sustainable use of natural resources.
" Before the project I didn't think about the need to conserve the forest. We would go in and cut any trees down. With support of FYF, the community is now taking responsibilty for conserving the natural enviroment. We know which tress to use for what and we've planted a tree nursey. the whole village has demarcated an area of common land and has come up with by-laws to regulate the use of the trees and forest produce so that people can't just come in and take natural resorces. Working with the project is vital to create a better future and even if we don't reap the rewards of conserving the natural enviroment, i know that our children in the future will benefit". Winnie Chipeta, Mwachifumya Village.
Addressing the challenge of HIV/AIDS. With recent figuresshowing over 14% of the population is infected, HIV/AIDs is having a devastating impact on Malawi. We are working with communities to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, challenge stigma and improve peoples access to prevention, testing, councelling and care.
"For a long time, I went to traditional doctors who said I was bewitched. I used to take herbs but never got better. Someone who works with FYF came to my village and suggested I got tested for HIV and I am HIV +. Since then, FYF has supported me to go to hospital and I am now on anti-retroviral drugs. I feel much beter, my pains have reduced and now I have more appetite but the problem now is that I don't have enough food. I'll soon be receiving training and some seeds from FYF so that I can set up a kitchen garden. Since joining the group my life has improved, I get advice on how to live positively with HIV/AIDS and I no longer feel alone " Markson Sichale, Lwitiko community group.
CO2 Report 24 miles of travel by car
