By Charles Mkoka
Blantyre, Malawi

03/12/2003

The effects of environmental degradation have increasingly become more evident in  Blantyre, Malawi ’s commercial capital, due to the disappearance of forest cover on Ndirande Mountain, one of the two mountains that are found in the city. The other mountain, Michiru, has of late experienced enormous pressure from the peri-urban population of the city that has almost tripled in the past decade due to the immigration of people in search of new jobs. As a result, the demand for wood for household use by families has increased tremendously of late.

In Malawi, 93 percent of energy used comes from firewood. The supply of trees has therefore become scarce due to deforestation, thus negatively affecting women that must walk longer distances to gather firewood. Research has shown that as firewood becomes scarce, the nutritional status of families is affected as the limited supply of energy usually forces families to reduce their meal frequency and not prepare the more nutritious and affordable foods such as beans, which require more energy.

Gathering Wood to Survive

Such is the story of one Idan Dyeratu, 50, his wife Feligasi, 30, and their first born daughter Gertrude, who at 2:30 pm in the afternoon have just descended  Blantyre’s  Michiru Mountain that reaches 1470m at its peak. Leaving as early as 6 am on empty stomachs, they climb the mountain in search of wood. One must really be strong to climb the mountain in order to get a head load of firewood sold by forestry officials as part of earning revenue for the government. 

Now, 8 hours later, they are just half way home taking a rest underneath a Eucalyptus tree on a weathered road that leads to  Blantyre city from the mountain. Idani sells the wood in the densely populated  township of Chirimba. He climbs the mountain every Saturday in addition to his guard duties at a printing company in the city.

“The exotic pine plantation is benefiting us a lot. We take advantage of those cutting planks and we collect the remains ourselves for our own business,” he said. “I make a profit of about K200.00 (Kwachas), about $3.5 per head load carried down the mountain, after buying it at K7.00 from forestry officials.” 

However, tracks leading to the plantation frequently used by those fetching firewood have caused severe gullies that, once the rains commence, will cause massive environmental damages downhill. Some woodcutters have also wantonly destroyed the forest cover that used to be part of the protected area in  Blantyre City . The Michiru Mountain conservation area is the only protected area that hosts wildlife species like hyena, bushbuck, duiker, and hyraxes, just to mention a few. 

Malawi Brick Industries a Threat

A booming brick-making industry operating just outside the protected area has been earmarked as a major threat to the conservation area set aside for tourists after disembarking from the nearby   Chileka International Airport.  Harry Chikaonda, a villager who survives on brick-making from Suya village says, “The brick-making industry is a source of livelihood and banning it will affect my family’s survival,” he said. Efforts to ban the brick-making industry have proved futile. The majority of human habitats and buildings in Malawi are built on burnt brick structures. As a result, the industry is a major consumer of fuel wood. 

Deforestation for Charcoal Production 

A recent participatory assessment survey conducted by the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) with the local people in Mwanza on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) identified poverty as a major problem faced by the local people in the Southern region district of Mwanza.  

According to William Chadza, Head of Natural Resources Management, wanton indigenous tree cutting by rural masses is carried out in order to make quick money, since charcoal is in high demand by urban dwellers.  This has resulted in massive soil erosion and siltation in low-lying areas resulting in floods during heavy rains. 

Research indicates it takes 250 kg of wood to make a 50 kg bag of charcoal. Large forested areas in the country have suddenly disappeared due to excessive charcoal burning. Surprisingly because of the quick money in the trade, women and children also participate in the business.  

The law in the Malawi Forestry Act bans charcoal production unless a permit is obtained from the Director of Forestry. Charcoal production persists, however, as people have no alternative.  

Can Fruit Juice Solve the Deforestation Problem?

Coincidentally, the flat areas of Mwanza are blessed with a large number of Baobab trees Adansonia digitata and Tamarinds trees Tamarindus indica. In order to provide the people with an alternative, an in-depth study was conducted in the area with the possibility of producing locally made fruit juice from the two indigenous species of trees. 

Antonio Angel, a German volunteer under the sustainable management of indigenous forests, conducted a survey with support from the German government. The survey revealed the possibility of producing fruit juices from indigenous fruits from the wild. WESM then started producing Malambe and Bwemba juices. The Malawi Bureau of Standards, a body established to look into the quality of products before they are marketed for consumption, approved selling the products to the masses after conducting tests. Original products were later marketed in major retail shops in the country. 

Asked how the project is fairing, Chadza said, “The people were given an alternative to charcoal. The project is doing well, it has offered employment to the communities.” 

Poverty Stresses the Environment

The UNDP Human Development Report for the year 2000 ranked  Malawi as one of the lowest in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) at 163 out of 173 in the world. The percentage of people living below the poverty line was 65.3 percent in 1998. Severe poverty affects about 28.7 percent of the population and a large part of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, 60 percent of which in 2001/2002 failed to produce sufficient food to last the whole year. The UNDP classifies 60 percent of rural people and 65 percent of urban dwellers as poor, placing Malawi among the ten poorest countries in the world. 

Recognizing the growing levels of poverty that are putting pressure on the environment, the government initiated the implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Programme. This was followed by the launching of the poverty monitoring system aimed at establishing a nationwide information system to oversee poverty related issues, policies and there impacts. The government poverty reduction strategy paper for debt relief under the highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative is the long term plan for investment to alleviate poverty for sustainable development according to the Malawi National Report to the recent World Summit for Sustainable Development held in  Johannesburg.  

However, in a country where the economy is dependent on agriculture, accounting for 85 percent of the population, the growing population has exerted enormous pressure on the country’s natural resources and on the environment in general. Already the pressure exerted by over one million refugees from Mozambique during the instability in their country a decade ago has lead to the loss of large areas of indigenous plantations due to the demand for wood energy and poles for housing. Furthermore, due to the influx of firearms, the country has lost its remaining elephants in the Majete Wildlife Reserve and the Black Rhino in the Mwabvi Wildlife Reserve.  

Encroaching on National Parks

In a related development, the threat of encroachment is imminent in   Lengwe National Park in the Southern district of Chikwawa Boniface Mwanza. The Assistant Parks and Wildlife Officer APWO (E) for Education recalls how he and his classmates from  Magomero Community Development College while on a community conservation field course received a cold shoulder at Therere area in Chapananga on the periphery of the park. “We have been cheated that the park belongs to us. But when we go inside we are harassed and arrested by game guards,” said an angry villager. The relations have not been all that rosy with park staff. 

According to information sourced from the Wildlife Research Unit at   Lengwe National Park, 74 km south of  Blantyre, encroachments have been a major problem faced by the law enforcement officers in the park. In the  village of Kamzimbi, Ndakwera and Zalera in Chapananga, a total of 44 hectares of land have been encroached upon. Around Jasi, an area of 5.36 hectares, and in Therere an area in Ngabu of 156 hectares have been encroached upon by surrounding communities. Villagers have also built houses in Zalera, Jasi and Therere areas inside the park according to a boundary inspection survey conducted in August, November 2002 and earlier this year in February by the survey department and National Parks staff. Lengwe National Park has an area of 887 km2, however surrounding communities have been pressing to get a share of the park especially in the extension area of the park where it is believed animals do not often find shelter because of the problem of water associated with this semi-arid area.

In a separate development, Environmental District Officer for Blantyre, Mike Makonombela, recently lashed out at companies and manufacturers that have been dumping wastes along the main road that runs from Blantyre to Lilongwe at Matindi area. According to the Environmental Management Act of 1996, it is an offence to dump wastes in habitable areas. The Act provides for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), monitoring pollution, and provides for offences and penalties with respect to environmental protection and management in  Malawi. 

Environmental conditions in areas of human habitation have an important influence on the quality of life for people in squatter settlements who typically do not have access to basic services such as safe water and waste removal, and are thus subject to a range of environmental hazards and associated risks.

Sources:

• Republic of Malawi, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs, Malawi National paper presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002,  Johannesburg,  South Africa.

• Government of the  Republic of  Malawi,  Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development,  Lilongwe,  Malawi, 2002.

Charles Mkoka is an independent Malawian environmental writer with much experience in environmental issues. He has worked in the field of environment and natural resources since 1996, after graduating from the Malawi Natural Resources College. Apart from being a writer, he is also a wildlife educator, specialist and guide. You can reach him at: mkokach@yahoo.com.

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