ENVIRONMENT

550,000 Trees Planted in January 2007
In 2006, RIPPLE Africa established 75 community tree nurseries, and our target this year is to set up an additional 50 community tree nurseries. Force Ngwira, our Environmental Projects Manager, has done an amazing job. We’ve worked very closely with the Forestry Department and, in conjunction with a number of forest guards, have helped to train members of the tree nursery groups about raising tree seedlings and nursery management. In January 2007, we estimate that about 550,000 trees were planted out in the Nkhata Bay District. Our target is to plant 4 million trees a year. We have been thrilled with the hard work that the communities have put in and the results that they have achieved. RIPPLE Africa provides the materials, equipment and training, and the communities provide all of the labour for free. They recognise that the trees they have at the moment will quickly disappear if trees are not planted for the future.

Mbaula (Fuel-Efficient Wood-Burning Stove) Project
The mbaula project started with a flourish but, unfortunately, has not developed quite as well as we had hoped. Our aim is to produce 20,000 fuel-efficient stoves per year in Nkhata Bay District. We’ll definitely have to put more resources into this really worthwhile project to make sure that the training is fully undertaken and that mbaulas are made to the correct quality so that they can be successfully sold. We’ve put together a new strategy, together with a new training programme, and this will be rolled out over the next few years. The people who have purchased these mbaulas have been very pleased with the results, and they are definitely using less than one third of the wood that they used to use, so we’re confident that this project will be very successful and will reduce the amount of firewood that’s needed.

Alupro Fruit Tree Growing Project
We’ve been incredibly lucky to be selected by Alupro, a not-for-profit organisation promoting aluminium recycling in the UK, to set up a fruit tree growing project in Nkhata Bay District. This will run alongside our existing reforestation project and, in simple terms, we will grow fruit trees in each of our 75 tree nurseries. We will also set up a fruit tree nursery at Mwaya where people can be trained in the art of budding and grafting, and we hope to establish it as a centre for “mother” trees in the Northern Region of Malawi. We will be developing a programme to produce improved orange, tangerine and grapefruit trees through the process of budding, and hybrid mango and improved avocado and guava trees through grafting. Other fruits, like pawpaw (papaya), will be grown from seed. The idea behind this project is that communities can generate an income from selling the trees. Income can also be generated from the sale of fruits in the future, and families will have their own trees to provide food for themselves. Work has already started on this project, and some of the first fruit trees will be planted out in January 2008.

Alupro launched this project in London on 10 July 2007 and recruited Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek to give 15 radio interviews on the project in the morning. Then we had a very successful meeting with the Alupro team, together with Dr Francis Moto, the Malawian High Commissioner to the UK. Later in the afternoon, we went to the Houses of Parliament for a photoshoot with Helen Southworth, MP for Warrington South where the Novelis aluminium recycling plant is based. We’re sure this will be a very successful and enjoyable working partnership.

New RIPPLE Africa Office in Chintheche
The District Forest Officer in Chintheche has been very supportive of our reforestation project, and the Forestry Department has provided a five-roomed building as our reforestation headquarters for free. This building is perfect for our needs and provides office space with electricity so computers can be used, and storage space for our equipment and materials. The Forestry Department, who are hugely under-resourced, have allowed us the use of a four-wheel drive Toyota Hilux and four motorcycles for our supervisors. In return, we are assisting the Forestry Department to attain their goals.

Vegetable Garden Project
It has always amazed us that it’s so difficult to purchase a good variety of vegetables in our area of Malawi. Many of the vegetables have to be transported more than 120km to reach us. There is absolutely no reason why vegetables are not grown locally as we’ve proved with our experimental vegetable garden. We’ve now tasked Ruben, who is a keen gardener, to set up and run four vegetable gardens located in areas that have access to water all year round. So far, the results are promising but there are many things to be learnt, and it will probably take several years before we are producing the right quantity of vegetables at the right time for the right markets.

Bulls and Ox Carts
We’ve always wanted to have low tech solutions to local problems, and one large problem in Malawi is transport. Vehicles are incredibly expensive to purchase and to run, so our ox cart project seemed like a great idea. Believe it or not, there is only one other ox cart that we have seen within 200km of where we are. It took quite a time to train the bulls, and we have two pairs – Rum & Coke and Gin & Tonic. Unfortunately, the original Gin had to be replaced as he was very hard to train, but now the ox carts are in regular use everyday moving bricks, building materials, sand, manure, and most recently water for the new secondary school at Kapanda.

Egg Project
Some previous volunteers wanted to establish an egg business which we were very keen to be involved with. A rather elaborate chicken house was constructed and some very expensive layers (chickens) were purchased from Lilongwe. A group of women looked after the chickens and sold the eggs, and they ran this as a business. Although it’s been great to have a local supply of good eggs, it has been a very expensive project to set up and run, and we need to find a cheaper solution for the future. The chickens are getting towards the end of their laying life, and we’re not quite sure what to do next as the closest chickens are in Lilongwe which is over 350km away.

Visit by Two Teachers from Cardinal Wiseman School, Coventry, UK
A number of schools have been involved with our projects, but we were very pleased when Sean O’Donovan contacted us to say that his school (Cardinal Wiseman School, Coventry) was raising money for our reforestation project and that he and a colleague were interested to visit Malawi and RIPPLE Africa. Sure enough, at the end of June, Sean and Dan arrived. We had a fantastic time showing them around our projects, and they have since donated £1,000 on behalf of the students at Cardinal Wiseman School. They are also keen to maintain an ongoing association with RIPPLE Africa.