Malawi Championship – Agriculture and SWC - Wells for Zoë Soil and Forest Restoration

In the wider Enyezini area, Miombo Woodlands have been clearfelled and deforested, leading to substantial soil erosion threatening the livelihoods of nearby farmers. 
The restoration approach is focused on active soil erosion control, implemented with locally available organic materials and simple principles by hundreds of paid community workers. Eroded areas are then covered in organic material: grasses, brush packing and mulch to provide conditions for later planted indigenous trees to thrive. Not only will this approach restore the forest cover, provide paid work for hundreds of community members, but it will reduce the threat to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers whose fields are severely threatened by erosion channels cutting into their lands. This  andscape restoration approach with natural solutions will improve the water penetration of the soil allowing for groundwater storages to refill and provide a stream of life to community members in the longterm.