No more guesswork for Chongwe farmers. We will be giving out weekly climate alerts, tips and warnings.
For too long, farming in Chongwe has meant making decisions in the dark. You plant when you think it is time. You harvest when the maize looks ready. You wait and hope the rains do not stop too soon or go on too long. And when things go wrong – when the cob rots because you harvested three days too late, or the armyworm comes and you only find out when half the field is already damaged – there is no one to say we told you so, because nobody told you anything.
That changes now.
Green Gold Social is launching the Chongwe Farmer Digital Climate Advisory Service – DCAS – a free weekly service that will give farmers in Chongwe District the information they need, when they need it, in the languages they speak.
We are starting this week on Facebook. Every week from now, we will post practical climate alerts, farming tips, and seasonal warnings on the Green Gold Social Facebook page. If you are reading this, you are already receiving the service. Share it with every farmer you know. Share it into your WhatsApp groups. The more people who see it, the more families are protected.
And this is just the beginning. We will soon be extending the service to Chongwe Community Radio 104.5 FM, where we will broadcast four times a week – twice before the morning news and twice in the evening – in Nyanja and in Soli. That means even farmers without smartphones, without Facebook, without data, will hear the weekly advisory the moment they switch on their radio.
The message will always be simple and practical. What is the weather doing this week and what should you do about it. If heavy rain is coming on Thursday, we will tell you to harvest your maize on Wednesday morning. If a dry spell is likely during tasselling season, we will warn you early. If armyworm has been spotted nearby, we will say so before it reaches your field.
We will also give farming tips tied to the exact moment in the season you are in. Soil preparation in September. Planting timing in November. Fertiliser application in January. Dry season vegetable gardens in May. This is not generic advice copied from a textbook. It is advice written for Chongwe – for the soil types here, the rainfall patterns here, and the challenges farmers here face every year.
We are building this service with the communities we work in. Our village headmen in Chisengo, Kampekete, Chikwela, Chilyabale, Kapuka, Bimbe and Chipanuka are part of this. Farmers living with disabilities are part of this. Nobody is left out. The information comes to you – through your phone, through your radio, into your home.
