The Middle, The End, The Beginning

  By:  Onyango Nyamol     [NAIROBI] The invasive crop pest fall armyworm is well known for its devastating effects on maize yields in Africa, but few studies have been done on its broader impact on poverty levels and food security. Now a study in Zimbabwe has found that smallholder maize-growing households blighted by fall armyworm are more likely to experience hunger and could see their income almost halved in severe cases, highlighting the urgency of strategies to tackle the pest. “Our study suggests that the outbreak is threatening food security and negatively affecting farmers’ livelihoods, hence urgent actions are needed.” Justice Tambo, CABI According to the study, estimates from 12 maize‐producing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa including Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe indicate that without control measures, the pest could cause maize losses of up to 17.7 million tonnes, translating into rev...

The energy levels were high as the 2016 Agricultural Extension Week for the Malawi Forum for Agricultural and Advisory Services (MaFAAS) officially started on Monday, the 25 th July 2016 in Lilongwe, Malawi. This year’s meeting is under the theme: “ Innovating agricultural extension in Malawi: Focusing on policy, systems, and approaches .” Under this, a few sub themes have been isolated for discussion throughout the week; Malawi Agricultural Extension policy review processes; Strengthening the District Agricultural Extension Services System (DAESS), Scaling up ICT-based Extension and Advisory services , and Current and Emerging issues . The opening ceremony had about 200 delegates from all over Malawi and abroad. It was interesting that quite a cross section of players within the agricultural sector were present ranging from private companies to civil society organizations. A representation of almost all Agricultural Development Divisions (ADDs) was presentation includin...

Malawi is one of the least-developed countries in the world and most of its population which is largely comprised of youth lives on subsistence farming. The elimination of hunger is one of the UN's top priorities and a key part is the promotion of sustainable agriculture We cannot talk about sustainable agriculture without inclusion of  ‪#‎ youth‬ and  ‪#‎ ICTs‬  in this digital age Are you a youth leader with a vision in agricultural entrepreneurship for youth? Are you an  ‪# ‎ ICTGeek‬  with innovative brains for  ‪#‎ AgriHackathon‬ ? Or whatever you are but with a passion for youth development and you believe  ‪#‎ Ag4Youth‬  is a way to go? Join Farm Radio Trus t,  National Youth Council of Malawi  and  ‪#‎ TimveniTV‬  for Youth, ICTs and Agriculture Conference on October 22, 2015 at Malawi Institute of Management as we open opportunities for representatives in the agricultural sector to showcase products and servi...

I have always believed that to end illiteracy we need to invest in education and training. In this age where every talk is about the use of ICTs for transformation and change then we need to invest in training for those we work with. This short video features myself during training sessions with farmers. Farm Radio Trust  provides  multi-functional  radio sets to Community Groups that we work with. These radio sets are solar powered, they have lighting bulbs, they can charge phones and an SD card for digital audio recording and storage. Farmers are trained on how to record their discussions based on topics, record local music, poems or plays. These recordings are then collected by broadcasters for airing, while some community members are able to travel to radio stations to submit on their own especially with community radios. Other groups have been supported with Android Phones so they can use them to record and send recording via whatsapp.  I be...

Consultative Meeting with Farmers on ICT4Ag, MIM-Lilongwe March 12-13, 2015 Have been very busy of late, even writing my own things was far from me. I have had very beautiful moments worthy capturing and sharing. But I can tell it has been the happiest time of times. Happiness because a number of things are moving in the right direction; perfect because a number of them are happening as planned. One of the major things happened a week ago. March 12-13 2015 will be memorable in my career as an ICT4D Profession. I met farmers who  traveled  from the deepest rural to participate in a consultative meeting to bang heads and plan wayward together about ICT4D projects. Thanks to Farm RadioTrust for convening the great meeting. Farmers were brought in so that we should share with them our idea, so that we should also learn from their ideas. Farmers are only ignorant on things they haven't experienced. Train them, they become experts that make things work. So we...

Source: Nation Online Good people, this news is scaring, it gave me a bad day! am so afraid of a Malawian girl. I thought there is bright future for her, yes there is future but I think we see it the other side only, while the other side is so dangerous to our nation. But I have hope that we can turn things around if we collectively stand up, voice out and act. Apparently this report is coming out soon after our good law makers passed the marriage age bill. This report may be is revealing how important this bill would be if it was passed some years ago. May be it would protect some of these good girls because they would realize they are underage and not pretty good for them to indulge in such immoral acts. However it's clear that some of these girls are victims of other human issues therefore its very unfortunate and not something to laugh at. But to the other side this report is a result of lack of sex education in Malawi Everyone has been young before and some s...

Fishing on Lake Malawi , Photo by Clement Shema So many things happened last week, so many stories came up, confusing, frustrating, surprising, entertaining and funny. I have two to share, one is frustrating the other is interesting The World Bank report about Malawi being the poorest country in the world is disappointing but true. It is painful to be told you are poor or you are from a poor family. Every time I hear about poor country poor people poor this, I get annoyed. Poverty is not an enterprise and there is no industry that manages it. Not long ago Malawi was the fastest growing economy after Qatar, how things have turned against us I don't understand. I don't want to talk about politics and leadership am interested in Malawi for Malawians. What a beautiful country we are, with all good, peaceful, friendly and hard working people. We are a people that knows how to work to impress and achieve. We have natural resources one day things will be sweeter than e...