When the Trees Returned, So Did Their Hope!

What happens when the land you depend on can no longer protect you?

For Liness Bonjesi from M’bona Village in Chikwawa, Malawi, this question was her daily life. Each rainy season brought fear. The land around her had been stripped of trees over the years, leaving the soil exposed and weak. When heavy rains came, water rushed through the village, flooding homes, washing away food reserves and leaving families with nothing to fall back on.

“We used to watch the clouds and worry instead of hoping,” says Liness.

With bare land and frequent run-offs, farming was no longer reliable and every season meant starting all over again. Even small household plans were easily disrupted because floods would destroy gardens and make life unpredictable.

The change began when her community joined the Food for Asset (FFA) group, supported by the World Food Programme through World Vision Malawi.

Liness shares that when she joined the group, the first activity was tree planting but at the start, it was not easy. Many seedlings did not survive, and most people did not know how to care for them properly.

“Many trees did not survive because we had no experience in taking care of trees,” says Liness.

As time went on, the group began receiving training on how to care for trees. With that support, they developed better skills in managing and protecting the seedlings they planted.

Since 2019, nearly 10,000 trees have been planted under Senior Group Goma. At first, the results were not obvious. But over time, the trees began to grow and the land slowly changed with them. The soil started to hold together better and water moved more slowly during heavy rains.

Because of the growing trees, life in Liness’s village is no longer filled with the same fear when the rainy season approaches. Floodwaters no longer spread as violently as before and homes and gardens are more protected.

“We feed our children from the same forests. It keeps them healthy,”  says Liness.

FFA Chairperson Osman Nkhumba shares that the support extended beyond tree planting. Members learned how to build check dams to slow water and prevent soil loss, how to prepare manure, and how to grow vegetables in home gardens.

The work has also spread to schools like Goma Primary, where students are taking part in nurturing young trees.

What began as a response to a barren landscape has become a community-driven effort to restore their environment and protect.