Bio-diversity

The project aims at developing skills within existing traditional enterprises namely the production of natural forest honey, manufacture of cane furniture/basketry and the production of export quality curios. TEVETA is further proposing to develop a strong business culture around these three forest based enterprises (FBEs) which will lead to increased incomes and thereby cultivate an inherent desire within the community to utilize their natural resource base in a profitable and sustainable manner. This project will be implemented in line with TEVETA s objective which seeks to Accelerate Micro-enterprise training and the informal sector, with a purpose of redistributing resources for training towards the poorer producers in both the rural and the informal sectors. Sustainable and economically successful FBEs when implemented in community based associations are capable of producing export quality products such as honey, wax and other bi-products from bees. Such enterprises are also capable of increasing access to employment, increase incomes and help reduce poverty while sustainably harvesting natural products from the biodiversity and adding value to them. Such enterprises can easily positively impact upon Malawi s economy at area as well as national level. Furthermore, increased incomes for the communities living adjacent to the protected forest reserves should lead to increased understanding of the need to utilize the forest resources more sustainably and protect the forest reserve A total of 800 rural based poor people mostly women and youths living in 14 communities within the targeted district of Dedza, specifically the Mua Livurezi Forest reserve will be trained in three key forest based enterprises (FBEs) as follows: Bee Keeping - 600 people both male and female will benefit from beekeeping skills training. Honey production as an FBE will form the biggest and major component of this project. A Honey Producers Association will be put in place, expected to produce up to 20 tonnes of honey each year. A Competence Based Training module for beekeeping will also be produced. Communities will name brands after plants of Malawi. TEVETA will help farmers market their honey under the name of the plants the honey comes from and this has the added benefit of raising awareness among consumers of the existence and importance of different species of plants and the need to protect the diverse ecosystems and agro-ecological zones that exist in Malawi. For example on the market, honey from Acacia species generally found in low-lying scrub and Savannah ecosystems flowers would be marketed as Acacia honey or an equivalent local name. TEVETA will be mindful to promote the use and protection of local sub-species of bees, in addition, TEVETA will not import bees from other parts of the World (as is common in most other bee keeping operations in the World), nor will it transfer any bees from one region to another within Malawi. Endemic and local subspecies colonize the hives naturally, and it is these bees that will be used for honey production. The Project believes that this is the best way to proceed even though the yields may not be as high as elsewhere in the World. This is a significant contribution towards the conservation of bio-diversity in this region. Furthermore, TEVETA will do a lot of work educating farmers and communities on the importance of bees as bio-indicators and work closely with community drama groups and other organizations to reduce the use of chemicals and harmful pesticides that harm bees and the environment. Cane Furniture and basketry - Mua livurezi is home to a very vast quantity and variety of bamboos. The local people have developed expertise in the art of weaving baskets common among these are the ones called madengu and Lichero in the local Chichewa language. Thousands of these baskets are produced in Mua Livurezi area with bamboos from the forest reserve. The baskets are sent to the city and district centres for sale. In some instances trucks are seen moving these products to the market centres. In some of the discussions that we had with the people living in the area of Mua, the middle men are the ones who come in to buy the baskets and sale them at higher price. For the local producers to make adequate financial returns there is need to: 1) Improve the quality of the baskets made in Mua and to build a reputation around that quality with some kind of trade mark. 2) Develop production and marketing associations that will enable the producers to market at a better price and be in a position to bargain for higher prices. 3) Secure big enough orders and deliver to the market directly Although there is adequate availability of bamboos in the area, cane furniture is very low key with the type of furniture made of very poor quality. Clearly there is need for some training that TEVETA has been providing to various groups in the country in cane furniture and basketry. The market for these products is quite big and the incomes that could accrue to households could be high. The formation of basketry and cane furniture association would go a long way to improve and increase production. Wooden Ornamental Products (Curios) - Curios are produced and sold along Masasa-Golomoti road. These are of very high quality and made mostly in form of toy cars, bicycles and many others. Prices are usually on the lower side, but can sometimes be sold for as high as MWK7,000 (US$46.42) depending on quality and

Malawi