Gibson Mphepo with members of the Chitsanzo Radio Listening Club
This post originally appeared on the T-LEARNING website. Read the first part – ‘Co-defining matters of concern’ – here.
The Malawi case study takes place in the Lake Chilwa Basin, a wetland of international significance prone to drying. Within the basin, Domasi and Nsanama Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) are our focus. The study subjects are women chosen because of their high vulnerability to drought, thus providing an opportunity for learning to adapt. The study focuses on how informal learning via local farming practices can potentially transgress current norms of climate change adaptation.
Creation of learning spaces
Learning spaces have been co-created with stakeholders through meetings as presented in the table below:
Miss Elida Matekeka (Research Assistant—far right) with focus group participants, Zomba
Stephen Gonani, Extension Worker, Domasi EPA explaining two contradictory learning approaches of Conservation Agriculture (No Tillage) and Sasakawa (which encourages ridging).
Chisomo Lapawa (holding voice recorder) explaining use of banana tubers ground.
I am a PhD scholar under the T-LEARNING research project coordinated by Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka at Rhodes University. My main research question is 'How do drought and inter-seasonal dry spells influence informal learning processes for resilience building among rural women cultivating maize in the Lake Chilwa Basin, Malawi?' The study researches the potential role of informal learning (focusing on local knowledge practices) to help change from incremental (business as usual) to transformation adaptation, using a case study approach at the Lake Chilwa Basin (Malawi). The lake is a fragile ecosystem and a wetland of international importance (a Man and Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar Site). The lake is prone to drought and dry spells since the 1800s and is a source of livelihoods for over 1.4 million people.
