Rumphi farmers praise NASFAM training for improved harvests and income

Smallholder farmers in Rumphi have hailed the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) for introducing crop diversification and modern farming technologies, which they say have improved food security and household livelihoods.

One of the farmers who embraced the initiative, 54-year-old Albert Mfune of Yaparaka Village, Traditional Authority Chikulamayembe, said he followed training from the organisation’s extension workers on diversification and modern farming techniques such as crop rotation, constructing swales to retain water during dry spells, irrigation and winter cropping.

“This was an eye opener for me because for a long time I have been struggling to get enough yield from one crop. Sometimes it happens that when the weather is bad, production for that crop is affected in that year,” he said, adding that relying on a single crop also exposes farmers to market price fluctuations, pests and diseases.

According to Mfune, the knowledge he acquired has enabled him to grow maize, groundnuts, soya beans, other beans, tobacco, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes and bananas, alongside a fruit orchard and livestock including cattle, pigs, goats and chickens.

“Since the time I started implementing what I acquired from the organisation, my life has changed because there is now enough food and income to sustain me at my house, compared to the life of poverty I was living in the past,” Mfune said.

He has since constructed a modern house, bought a motorcycle and an ox-cart, and is planning to buy a pick-up truck to transport his produce from the farm and to start a transport business.

Sharing a similar experience, Mtula Mhango, who joined NASFAM in 2002, said the training he received has transformed his life tremendously.

Through farming, Mhango has put two children through university, with others still in secondary and primary school.

He also owns a modern house, a car, motorcycles and an ox-cart, along with a woodlot of natural trees.

Rumphi District Acting Association Business Manager Stephano Gabriel expressed satisfaction with farmers’ uptake of programmes the organisation is investing in, including conservation agriculture, crop diversification, irrigation, livestock production, winter cropping, village banking and manure production.

“All these programmes are aiming to ensure farmers are food secure while at the same time being financially stable,” he said.

Gabriel urged farmers to follow and implement the training provided in order to maximise production and income at both household and community level.