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| ZERO EMISSIONS RESEARCH INITIATIVE (ZERI) | |
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MALAWI
ZERI Activities in Malawi Malawi is a country whose soils and climate are well suited to arable agriculture. The main Food Crop is maize, which accounts for about three-quarters of all cropped land. Other important crops include pulses, cassava, sugar cure, banana, tobacco, cotton, groundnuts and rice. Water hyacinth is in rich abundance in Malawi freshwater bodies. There is a great potential for using the weed as a substrate for mushroom farming and for other uses. Bamboo was also reported to be abundaintly distributed. Additionally, spent grain from Brewery industries is abundant. In the water hyacinth infested bodies, a rich abundance of aquatic grass is present. Currently the grass is conceived as a weed. Its potential as a substrate for mushroom farming, or for other uses, will be further investigated. From all these, it is evident that Malawi has a wide range of Organic Substrates suitable for mushroom farming. Fish farming including the farming of ornamental fishes for export trade constitute one of the main economic activities. Indeed, lake Malawi, has an extremely rich biodiversity of fish species, characterized by a high degree of endemism: in fact, one of the richest in the world. The Government of Malawi is aware of this fact. With the assistance of the Government of Japan. Malawi has recently developed an impressive infrastructure for fish farming Research and Development (R&D) at Bunda College of Agriculture which has the potential of providing regional leadership for freshwater fish farming in the region. UNDP Malawi is playing a very positive role in promoting the implementation of ZERI activities in the country, particularly the mushroom initiative. The office has funded Bunda College to promote successful mushroom farming in Malawi. There is networking already established with AFRICARE towards the implementation of Zone of the selected high priority activities. The Ministry of Agriculture has committed to have a salaried employee transferred to Bunda College of Agriculture to work fulltime on mushroom farming research and development showing the Government Commitment to ZERI. H-E President Bakili Muluzi, the President of the Republic of Malawi has shown strong support and, indeed, commended the regional approach which UNDP/UNOPS ZERI Project was adopting, especially with regards to the idea of cultivation the Ganoderma lucidum mushroom, both for the world trade, and also for promoting the body immune system for HIV/AIDs. Through the catalytic role of UNDP Malawi, project implementation in the country had an early start. Bunda College of Agriculture of the University of Malawi is providing scientific leadership for mushroom farming promotion in the country. UNDP Malawi and FAO Malawi are undertaking a joint venture to complement the funding support provided by the UNDP Regional Project; with a view to rapidly stepping up mushroom production in the country. The Regional project also revealed that various ecosystems in Malawi support a rich biodiversity of medicinal mushrooms, which show great potential for global trade. R&D work on their cultivation strategies are planned to be undertaken. General Information about Malawi Capital city: |
