Phalombe District Council says training Catchments Management Committees (CMCs) in catchment management is one way of ensuring sustainability of projects under the Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP).

District Forestry Officer for Phalombe Moses Mtambo made the remarks on Friday on the sidelines of a four days’ training for CMC members in integrated catchment management planning.

Mtambo said the committees were at the backbone of implementation of projects under the pilot Programme as such their training has been designed in a manner that facilitates community ownership that would ensure sustainability.

“In part the training involves a situational analysis in which the CMCs will get to evaluate and understand their catchments’ current situations and suggest better ways of managing them. This is rather than solutions coming from the district council as doing so might bring errors that would in turn affect the implementation outcomes,” said Mtambo.

He further noted that this system will bring out tailor made solutions and options of catchment management.

One of the trainees Amos Magombo from Migowi catchment commended the bottom up approach applied in the trainings where community members are at the helm of finding solutions.

In the implementation of the Enhanced Public Works Programme (EPWP) which is being piloted in 10 districts in the country the National Local Government Finance Committee which funds the Programme has emphasized on capacity building of key implementation structures as a way of facilitating success of the pilot project.

Story Credits: Sam Majamanda