The Giving Trees
In 2020, WFP’s programmes planted 7.2 million tree seedlings across Southern Malawi.
Katherine McAleer
When students arrive to class at Namilongo School, a small oasis of neatly planted trees and shrubs along the walkways and common spaces welcome them.
Head Teacher, Mrs Rhoda Mpumira, explains how participating in the World Food Programme (WFP)’s Food for Assets (FFA) intervention has provided grass, trees, flowering plants and, as a result, soft and shady spots to play and learn. “The sea of green has contributed to an improved environment,” she said. “Not too long ago we were surrounded by sand and dust but now there is a lot more pride and enthusiasm from both teachers and learners.”
The FFA initiative addresses immediate food needs through cash, voucher or food transfers, while at the same time it promotes the building or rehabilitation of assets that will improve long-term food security and resilience.
The activities carried out at Namilongo School fall within WFP’s integrated portfolio in Malawi, where linkages are established between smallholder farmers working on asset creation and also partake in the restoration of schools participating in WFP’s School Feeding programme.
“We had no shady areas and nowhere to sit and chat or play because the ground was just dirt so we would cough everyday and leave school with dirty uniforms,” said fourteen year-old Elube Ma’Jaliwe, describing how desolate the school grounds were before the school beautification component of the project was introduced.
The integration programme at Namilongo School centres on four components: school beautification such as planting grass, trees and flowers; a fruit orchard that not only helps with reforestation but also provides fruits for the children; a school vegetable garden and a nursery.
“I have been supported by WFP since 2017 to improve my farming practices so to increase my yield,” said Matilda Chikondo, a smallholder farmer, member of the parent committee and mother to two children attending the school. “As a community, we felt it was important to support the school and the school meals programme so we come together to make sure our children also benefit from a better learning environment.”
Since 2019, over 4,000 trees have been planted by the community. Surplus vegetables from the school vegetable garden are sold at a local market and profits are then used to provide children in need with school supplies and uniforms.
In 2020, WFP’s programmes produced and planted 7.2 million tree seedlings in eight districts across Southern Malawi. Furthermore, since the start of the resilience-building programme in 2017, over 9,000 hectares of community woodlots (roughly equivalent to 12,000 soccer pitches) were established, and 14,000 hectares of land brought under plantation/rehabilitated (equating to roughly 20,000 soccer pitches). In addition, over 150,000 households were encouraged to and now use fuel-efficient stoves built locally, thereby reducing firewood consumption.
Thanks to the support of USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (USAID BHA), WFP is supporting 85,000 food-insecure households through the construction or rehabilitation of assets that strengthen their resilience to climatic shocks. In parallel, the European Union is supporting WFP Malawi to provide school meals to 280,000 pupils in 200 primary schools. To the extent possible, WFP strives to reinforce synergies between these interventions which are in line with existing government policies working towards Zero Hunger, SDG2, by 2030.
FFA activities aim to create healthier natural environments, reduce the risks and impact of climate shocks, increase food productivity, and strengthen resilience to natural disasters over time.
Since 2013, FFA programmes in more than 50 countries have helped between 10 and 15 million people each year bring hundreds of thousands of hectares of degraded land back into productive use, plant thousands of hectares of forests, and build scores of wells, ponds and feeder roads, and be trained in livelihood and agricultural practices.
Read more about WFP’s work in Malawi
