Peace Corps Malawi 2002 - 2004: 02/13/2005

ADVANCED FRUIT FARMER'S GROUP

I established a group that extended beyond macadamia as the interest grew and other farmer's continually asked for more information about growing fruit trees. There was a great deal of interest of course in improved cultivars and local techniques were as simple as "some one ate and threw a mango seed over there and it sprouted".

Mangos were typically left because they were valued. So you see them here and there poking up all over this part of Africa, in the middle of crop fields. The prized local version was called "Mangododo" a rather large stringless variety (but quite strong turpentine overtones), as opposed to the "local mango" which was very stringy and rather small. In the market the price for these larger mangoes was perhaps K3 versus 50 tambala (3 cents to 1/2 a cent) for the local variety.

I discussed top-working with my counterpart in the agriculture department, Mr. C.Y.D. Mkandawire, which is a technique of grafting improved cultivars (varieties) onto mature trees in the field, to improve fruit quality. Usually this entails taking a 10 cm size branch and grafting several scions to it, often by cutting a wedge and stripping back the back then retacking the bark afterward.

Some time later, Mr. Mkandawire invited me over to his house. He said he wanted to show me something, and there - right away to the back left of his house he had done it, top worked (grafted) Mangododo on top of a local mango - not only this, but it was already sprouted and the new leaves quite large, though still soft and redish.

In the photo below, Mr. Emson Silungwe, one of the group's farmers and the secretary of Mulembe Village Development Committee (VDC) is on the left, Mr. C.Y.D. Mkandawire is on the right.

Mango: Top-Working

Advanced fruit farmers group training - at lunch break

TRAININGS

I was the primary trainer at the first few meetings and got quite into it jumping up and down off the front bench and so on trying to make my points. I'm actually a bit of an expressive.

I tried to explain the difference between progress and process. That, as you can imagine, was a difficult one. I taught, half in Tumbuka, half in English, embarking into some furiously drawn diagrams on the board. I always liked to start the training with something of this nature as people tended to come very late to training in Malawi. (Some of my farmers walked as far as 6 miles one-way.)

We next would go into the technical material which was lecture, board, (more diagrams of course) and discussion. We always ended with a practical (hands-on) section which began with a demonstration then time do the practical. Usually Mkandawire, myself, and Mr. Ng'ambi (Wabwera) would walk around to assist. That explains the forest material in the preceding photo (it wasn't just decoration); we did grafting and budding with our simulated materials.

At subsequent trainings, Mkandawire and I would split the training, breaking off the parts that were our respective strengths. This was quite a relief to me.

I traveled more than he and consequently had more exposure to new technologies, but he was sharp, a very fast learner. Consequently, I arranged to take Mkandawire to Mzuzu to see Lunyangwa Agriculture Research Station and Mr. Ng'wira's "Seed and Nursery Services" - a horticulture business and farm at Lusangazi. At Mzuzu we learned a great deal of practical information together, which was wonderful. Mr. Ng'wira's son showed us the farm with special attention on the grafting and budding operations. He shared with us the techniques they found to be successful "on the ground". This was a great relief as we'd been struggling with demonstrating shield or T-cut budding to farmers. He said they found chip budding easier to teach to grafters, affecting their work and success rates.

Mkandawire and I biked all over Mzuzu (Lunyangwa and Lusangazi being somewhat distant from the town center). As we arrived out to these communities he was very surprised when the local children ran behind me yelling "Mazungu, mazungu, mazunguuuuuu ..." ("Mazungu" being "foreigner" or non-black person.) He hadn't known the children do this (somewhat constantly). In Chisenga, the children knew me, and had been coached to use my name - it was more often something like "Mackymillany, mwakata!" ("McMillan, good morning!", in Chinyika.) He was a bit shocked but I assured him I was quite used to it.