Allan Chavula and Natural Regeneration through Tree Planting
Allan Chavula, age 37, lives with his wife, age 34, and his 4 children: Kelvin, Raphael, Vinjeru and Praise.
His primary income is from pierce work [-not sure if this is a report typo?] and farming, but due to devaluation of the Malawi kwacha his source of income no longer caters to all his family’s needs. He is also facing challenges in finding inputs for farming such as seeds and fertiliser due to his low income and increase in prices for these resources.
Allan came in contact with Temwa in 2019 when Temwa was working with Seleman Village. He started working with Temwa in 2022, as part of our Carbon Balance project, learning how to manage his natural forest: through planting trees, natural regeneration and protection of existing forest.
Before Temwa, Allan was managing a small portion of the forest of less than an acre. He was experiencing soil erosion across his land, a problem often caused by heavy rainfall and local deforestation. His home also did not have a windbreak to protect it from heavy winds, a problem exacerbated by his home being situated on a hilltop.
After working with Temwa, Allan started to manage a larger portion of land of about 4.5 acres. Now, he has fewer problems with soil erosion thanks to a growing number of trees in his forest and now has more trees around his home to act as a windbreak and protect it from heavy winds.
Working with Temwa has also allowed Allan to better understand and benefit from other Forest-Friendly livelihoods such as beekeeping, firewood collection, and wild mushroom and phalabungu (worms) harvesting.
He also has been able to establish a fruit orchard, reducing local soil erosion and having economic benefits for him and his family, while also planting trees and offsetting carbon emissions.
With Temwa’s intervention, there have also been fewer cases of deforestation for charcoal production in the community, and there is now a committee that helps with the management and protection of the forest. And since more trees are being planted, it is hoped that deforested areas can be renewed.
“Temwa has helped me in understanding the importance of protecting more trees, I have now hung 5 beehives in my natural forest as a way of protecting it.”
Alongside the use of bees as a form of protection for the forests, the introduction of beehives will hopefully soon promise a new source of household income for Allan and his family. He hopes for Temwa’s continued support in sourcing wood for the production of more beehives, which will be hung to protect the village forest and increase the harvest of honey.
Temwa Carbon Balance equips farmers and households to plant trees in a way which protects the nutrient rich soil from drought and floods. Tree roots anchor the soil down so that in times of heavy rain, the healthy soil isn’t washed away. Not only this, but the trees you plant mean that not only can more carbon be captured in the soil, but people can grow more crops, increasing food security and their income by selling the produce at markets. When households have a higher income, families can pay school fees to send their children to school, they can afford healthcare and they can invest in local businesses.
