By Chancy Namadzunda

It is turning into an obstacle to human development. Global warming is now a greatest environmental challenge facing the world today.

Sadly, the impacts are felt in hardest by the poor masses. Those living in below the poverty line who rely entirely on the natural environment (agriculture in particular) for their daily bread.

Rising global temperatures are bringing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels and increased frequency and intensity of extra weather events.
In sub-Saharan countries, Malawi in particular, the rainfall pattern has been changing over the years.

Normally, the rainy season starts from November to April but as witnessed I the past few years, there has been dramatic change in the sequence as it starts late. This agriculture season, some people in the central Malawi are likely to enter 2010 without stable rainfall, and perhaps, without planting seeds.

In other parts, there have already had heavy rains which have left over 500 households homeless and their crops swept away. These are indeed the signs of global warming.

Governments and environmental NGOs have been fighting for reforestation. They have been moblising the communities to plant trees along the river banks and all idle paces.

However, it seems the messages are being received with cold shoulders. With lack of promotion, facilitation and the implementation of awareness campaigns, education and training programs on the causes, effects and long term forecasting of climate change and disaster risk; enabling communities to be aware of policies and innovation in climate adaptation and risk management, they are not ready to plant as many trees in the needed areas.

People still continue to cultivate in the wetlands. There have been clashes here and there with the forestry officials after communities invade forest reserves for farm land and sometimes for wood fuel (fire wood and charcoal).

This is the main source of energy to most Malawians as it accounts for about 93 percent of total energy consumption. The demand for wood fuel actually exceeds the sustainable supply leading to environmental degradation, according to a 2008 UNESCO energy report.

The report says 67 percent of wood fuel is used by the rural dwellers for cooking and heating, 15 percent for urban demand and 7 percent for curing and industrial requirements.

This is why during this years’ tree planting season launch, President Bingu wa Mutharika said government will embark on rural electrification as a solution to environmental degradation.

“This loss of trees has affected the weather patterns like shortage of rainfall,” he said

This is a new step further, following an attempt to minimize the use of biomass fuels and pride the rural communities; government had (have) a Programme for Biomass Energy Conservation (ProBEC) which sought (seeks) to promote the use of clay stoves to save fuel, but it is far from being implemented.

Another idle programme is the Promotion of Alternative Energy Sources Project (PAESP) which seeks to promote non-traditional fuels for cooking and heating to halt environmental degradation which include bio-mass briquette, coal stoves, liquefied petroleum gas, gel fuel and paraffin stove. It is also miles away from the rural people.

“Trees still remain our source of wood fuel and we have neither an option nor a choice. Due to poverty, many people have find charcoal business a paying venture, so, it seems our lives are centered on grown up trees,” said village headman Gomani, of Mchinji district in the central region.

Perhaps, this sound like the rural dwellers have been reluctant to plant trees but rather, continue cutting them for survival.

ENVIRONMENT IN TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVE

By our tradition, these are the same people who in the past, were in deep love with the environment. Natural resources to them meant a lot, from their cultural and religious beliefs.

Nowadays, the only importance they see in natural resources is for wood fuel, nothing else.

What is a puzzle in all this is; why is it that these people have all of a sudden become enemies of the natural resources.

”The natural resources’ linkage they had by then have been turned into superstitions from the colonial era in the name of development. As their mindsets have been changed, the passion for environment has faded overtime hence the current state,” said Hobson Lyle, a Lilongwe based secondary school history teacher

They believed that their ancestral spirits were residing in the forest and well covered mountains. When there was a calamity, they rushed there to ask for assistance.

“During our parent’s times, every chief preserved a forest. Villages were surrounded by trees which were controlled by traditional leaders. People sought permission to cut trees but it was only when they were really in dire need,” Village headman Gomani said

Bushfires were not everywhere, they were also controlled by chiefs to preserve wildlife.

“There were many rituals during the Maravi Kingdom which were aimed to safeguard the environment, one of which is Mlira. People used to travel to Mtakataka (the Manthimba-Mankhambas) where Kalonga (the supreme leader) conducted to inaugurate bushfires,” came in Lyle

Natural resources were a most treasured possession in religious eyes of the people in the pre-colonial era.

It was in Nkhuluvi forest in Nsanje district, the southern part of Malawi, where people used to believe that the spirit of their only true living God, Mbona was (is) believed to live. There, there is His shrine an a house for his wife.

Whenever there are calamities, they convene(d) in the forest to pour libations and supplications to call for his assistance, be it to send rain to the dry land so that plants, animals and human beings can easily get food.

This ceremony was led by a living spirit of Mbona, a Traditional Authority Mgabu who is believed to converse with him. His (Mgabu) ancestor carried Mbona’s head from a place called Ndiwoni where he (Mbona) was killed by relatives and buried it in Nkhuluvi forest.

When frustrated, Mbona moves from a shrine in the forest to a place at the Indian Ocean (according to Paramount Chief Lundu, who is also President of the Traditional religion) hence the value of forests and water bodies among the locals.

”But over the years, the powers of chiefs and our beliefs have been reduced to nothing. Our children cannot take over from us because they are in a civilized world. No wonder, today there is rampant environmental degradation as trees are being cut without care leaving behind bare river banks, chiefs have lost control.

“With no room to our religions, we are just watching what is happening,” said chief Gomani

CONCLUSION

“The best solution to nature conservation is to give back the powers to local leaders to safeguard the resources. These are the ones who are very close to those who go about destroying it. It is hard though, to bring back all the tradition with the current affairs,’ said Lyle

Perhaps, his is the time all the concerned actors take more action in civic educating the rural masses on issues of global warming and not in boardroom centered discussions.

“We underscore that communities are vital learning agents of change, holders of indigenous practices, knowledge and skills, and can be powerful drivers of their own development and resilience,” reads part of the Lilongwe Declaration on the first Global conference on learning and sharing on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) and Climate Change Adaptation