Environmental policy and administrative management

Degradation of the land and natural forest resources in Choma is highly exacerbated by poverty, shifting cultivation, charcoal, flue curing, firewood, brick making, harmful bush fires and tobacco growing as the major causes. Almost 82% of the people in Choma depend on agriculture. This puts more pressure on natural forest resources than in many parts of Mzimba district. About 50% of farm households have been classed as food insecured due to land degradation in the area. The population grows at 2.9% per year and this, combined with rural-to-rural migration from densely to sparsely populated areas, means farmers often have no way to tackle their food insecurity and expand their operations except to cut woodland on customary land or to encroach upon the forest reserves as a means of looking for fertile land and charcoal. This has threatened Choma area and in particular Mzimba district as well as Malawi s considerable stock of biological diversity, and reduces the actual and potential forest goods and services on which its people can draw for social and economic development to reduce poverty in the area. In Choma area the demand for trees products is much greater than the supply and replacement. Aggregate annual consumption of trees products, estimated at higher, far exceeds the potentially sustainable supply from current sources. A chronic supply and demand imbalance has consequently emerged, resulting in increasing shortages at the household level. The situation is gravest in Mzimba and in particular Choma area. The long-term loss and degradation of the land and forest cover has been greatest particularly on communal land on which the poorest are most dependent. Despite the effort by government to put appropriate support policies for sustainable land and forest management, land degradation and forest encroachment continues in the rural areas of Choma in Mzimba district. Estimates of Malawi s forest cover vary widely but official sources suggest that in 2005 there was 3.4 million hectares of forest cover (36.2% of total land area) and 33,000 hectares was being deforested per year. While Malawi has established some public and private forest plantations, these cover less than 3% of the total forest area Objectives: -To introduce a new source of energy for cooking in order to reduce the use of firewood and time spend in search for firewood which can be used for other development work. -To improve human welfare and sustainable environmental and natural resource management through apiculture and horticulture (beekeeping and fruit growing

Malawi