Life and Work

I am sitting under the shade of a large mango tree in a village, enjoying the protection it offers against the heat of the afternoon sun. Next to me on the bamboo mat is a local woman in her mid-forties answering questions posed to her by one of my team members. An older woman joins us, she is the mother of the interviewee, and seated across from us is the daughter, surrounded by a bevy of children of varying ages. They are wide-eyed at having a “mazungu”, a foreigner, in their midst and they watch me closely.

Four generations of African women sitting under a mango tree in a village in rural Malawi. The context of my fieldwork here is so very different from what I am used to! My team member is asking questions in Chichewa, the local language, asking about the crops grown and the size of the property, the type of fertiliser used and the about the history of changes in the landscape. But the main aim of the questionnaire is to find out what types of trees farmers have on their properties and how they manage those trees.

Team member conducting a farmer interview

We are conducting surveys with smallholder farmers in 4 regions in central and southern Malawi. This work is part of a larger project trying to understand changes in tree cover across the broader landscape (using historical aerial photographs and contemporary satellite images), and documenting the current diversity and abundance of trees at a more local scale. Malawi suffers from significant ongoing deforestation, running at about 2-3% per annum I believe. This is a consequence of areas of forest being converted into agriculture as the population continues to increase and more productive land is required. Coupled with this is the use of woody biomass as the main source of energy for cooking and other activities. Even here in Lilongwe it is estimated that 80% of the population uses charcoal for cooking using little purpose-built stoves, as it is cheaper (and more reliable!) than electricity or gas. Which may explain the rather thick smog that blankets the city on these cool mornings!

Trees in background, with sweet potato + maize

This demand for firewood and charcoal is taking a huge toll on the remaining forest stands, and encouraging farmers to grow trees on their farms which supply their firewood needs not only protects these areas but also decreases the time required to collect firewood, which can be a very time-consuming chore for rural women. From the data we have already collected, it is pretty clear that the main reason farmers manage the trees within their fields is to provide firewood. Obviously the trees are also supplying various timber products and products such as nuts and fruits, with mangoes being one of the dominant species we have found so far. I have been pleasantly surprised at how many trees farmers have on their land and the diversity of species. To my eye, there are many more trees in the agricultural landscape here than I am used to in either Aust or NZ, but I guess the protected forest areas here are much smaller and less numerous.

Our survey will provide much needed data about the diversity of indigenous species growing on farms, as much of the work that has been done around trees in the agricultural context has focused on introduced species, particularly agroforestry species. The organisation with which I am working, ICRAF (International Centre for Research on Agroforestry, aka World Agroforestry Centre – worldagroforestry.org), has been undertaking research for the past 25 years on agroforestry technologies which aim to increase the number of trees in the agricultural landscape. Some of these trees are grown to improve soil nutrient levels, especially those which fix nitrogen, or to decrease soil erosion, improve soil-water relations, provide fodder for livestock, or shelter and shade for people, livestock and crops. Other trees are grown for their timber products or fruit, nuts, oils or medicinal products. And obviously in recent times, there is a huge interest in growing trees to sequester carbon.

Poles are used to construct small barns for livestock and a range of other uses

Faidherbia, an indigenous nitrogen-fixer, growing in cotton fields

ICRAF has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with several offices in other African countries, and in Asia and South America. The Southern African regional office is here in Malawi, and has about 20 or so permanent staff. There is a mixture of locals and non-locals, with scientists from Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and USA, and a PhD student from The Netherlands who is being funded by Irish Aid. In fact, quite a lot of funding is currently coming from Irish Aid, as well as other international sources. We are located about 15 km west of the centre of Lilongwe at the Chitedze Agricultural Station where the Malawian government Agriculture Dept has its research headquarters, and share the site with a couple of other international agencies including IITA and ICRISAT which do research on tropical agriculture, including plant breeding.

Village chief and his wife, she is wearing a chitengi over her skirt

But let’s head back to the village. Not only is the field work I am doing quite a departure from my previous work and the physical context very different, but my attire is also somewhat different to my usual field uniform. Back home, I would wear long trousers in the field, and sturdy shoes or boots, depending on what we are doing for the day. If it is really hot and the work allows for it, I might even wear shorts. But here I wear a skirt. Yes, I wear a skirt to do fieldwork, and sandals. It is completely impractical for me, but it is a sign of respect to the locals. Here women wear skirts and men wear trousers. I have worn trousers a couple of times in the villages, but it just doesn’t feel quite right and I can see the children being completely confused by this gender-bending concept!

A farmer 'poses' outside his home

The killer for me is that not only do I wear 1 skirt, I actually then wear an overskirt, overtop! Here is it called a “chitengi”, it’s a type of wrap, similar to a sarong. It’s really just a length of fabric, about 2 m long, that is tied at the waist. They are decorated in a range of traditional African patterns, often very colourful and sometimes even with political slogans or other messages on them. I bought a couple at the local market a few weeks ago. I probably don’t have to wear one, but again, it is respectful for me to do so. The women here all wear them over their skirts and I don’t really know why. A woman will own a number of chitengi and they are frequently used to strap a baby to the back, or to wrap a load in order to carry it or for a variety of other uses.

Because I don’t speak the language, I can’t conduct any of the interviews. I have a team of 2 or 3 others who interview the farmers at their houses in the village. My role is to go with the farmer, after the interview, and get a GPS reading of the location of the field. This means I do a lot of walking in a day as I traipse along dusty paths in the hot sun from one field to the next, hence why my field uniform of two skirts and sandals is so impractical for me - I get very hot and tired and dirty!

But I am deeply aware of how privileged I am to have this opportunity to do such an interesting research project in a country like this and to gain some understanding of village life here. I am walking the paths of rural Africa, surrounded by fields of cassava and peanuts and maize and sorghum, absorbing the gentle rhythm of life on the land, humbled by the material poverty I see all around me which contrasts so starkly with the rich depths of generousity and playfulness of spirit that epitomise the gorgeous people in this land, the “Warm Heart of Africa”.