Severe dry spells during the 2023/24 season have dried up local vegetation across southern Malawi districts like Mulanje, crippling milk production and driving up farming costs. Livestock owners and hired laborers are traveling dozens of kilometers to harvest reeds and Napier grass along waterways such as the Likhubula River. Supplementing livestock diets has become nearly impossible because poor maize harvests have rendered bran scarce and unaffordable. Furthermore, vegetable cultivation on riverbanks is compounding the crisis by depleting protective plants and accelerating the drying of local streams.
Key points
Prolonged dry spells and high temperatures have depleted essential fodder and severely cu…: Prolonged dry spells and high temperatures have depleted essential fodder and severely curtailed dairy output.
Intensive harvesting along rivers like the Likhubula threatens fragile ecosystems fed by…: Intensive harvesting along rivers like the Likhubula threatens fragile ecosystems fed by Mount Mulanje.
Riverbank crop farming strips natural vegetation and accelerates the drying of vital regi…: Riverbank crop farming strips natural vegetation and accelerates the drying of vital regional water sources.
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For many families, keeping cattle alive is becoming an increasingly costly struggle.
Mulanje, Malawi – Lawrence Abison walks along the bank of the Likhubula River, stopping every few metres to inspect the grass.
He eventually moves towards a patch of green Napier grass and reeds.
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The 25-year-old takes out a sickle. With three friends, he starts cutting. They work through the morning, tying the grass into bundles, carrying them uphill and returning to the river for more.
They left Nsanjama, 27km away, at dawn.
After two hours of cutting, they had gathered enough grass to feed 10 cattle for one day.
Later that afternoon, dozens of other men carrying bundles of grass could be seen around Chitakale in…
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