Lilongwe Rotary Club tips villagers on fruit production

Lilongwe Rotary Club has advised community members in the area of traditional authority (TA) Chimutu in Lilongwe to prioritize planting fruit trees, saying apart having healthy benefits; fruits can also help them to generate money.

Speaking on Saturday during a tree-planting exercise in the area, the club’s president William Matambo said they gave the women 2 410 guava and orange fruit tree seedlings.

“With fruits it is not about environmental management but there is also an economic empowerment aspect which is also a key result area for Rotary club and apart from that there is also a nutrition value,” he said.

Matambo said they have donated Guava and Orange tree seedlings to Katsumba forest in order to empower the villagers to also take a leading role in food production.

“Community members are key players in sustainable forest management and bringing them fruit trees will help them to find food for their families and improve their nutrition.

“We believe that these fruits will benefit their households and communities. However, we decided to come here because we have worked with them in terms of ordinary trees planting and we have seen how hard working they are, the survival late is good and we truly believe that they will also take proper care of these fruits and benefit a lot,” he said.

However, as a way of complimenting government efforts in reforestation and the mitigation of climate change effects Matambo said Rotary Club of Lilongwe has so far planted 22000 ordinary trees and 5000 fruit tree seedlings this year.

“We do realize our responsibility in conserving and doing justice to the environment and we are not stopping here until our country is full of trees,” he added.

Katsumba Forest Chairperson Julius Silimu thanked Rotary Club of Lilongwe for the gesture and further  reaffirmed the commitment to set the ball rolling by planting more fruit tree seedlings and also taking care of them.

Silimu said he will also take a responsibility to mobilize chiefs in the area to also play a role in making sure that community members are embracing a tree planting culture every year.

President Lazarus Chakwera launched the National Tree Planting Season in December last year in Nkhata Bay.

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