Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change Owen Chomanika has challenged communities, together with their local leaders, to protect the environment to realise a bumper harvest.
Chomanika said this during commemoration marking this year’s forest day at Nsaru ADMARC Ground in Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe.
He said there is a strong linkage between forests and agricultural production, hence there is a need to fix land degradation and deforestation.
“Chiefs, religious leaders, organisations and all stakeholders, you have a role to protect trees. If we fix our environment, we have fixed our agricultural production,” Chomanika said.
Traditional Authority Kabudula pledged to mobilise his subjects to plant and protect trees, as the area is not yielding enough produce due to deforestation and land degradation.
Agriculture Commercialisation (AGCOM) Project through the Ministry of Agriculture is empowering communities in the Kabudula area with initiatives that are aiming at improving agriculture production and restoring forest cover.
The commemoration was held under the theme ” Restore forests and land to secure agriculture production”.
The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Agriculture Ministry.
