Malawi Fruits is well known in the Northern region for promoting the growing of vegetables. Our solar pumps and drip irrigation kits are ideal for small plot farming and a small plot with high quality, high value vegetables makes a lot of sense. As I’ve been going around I’ve seen some really well organised plots and great vegetables.

Generally, harvests have been poor in Malawi this year, especially in the Central and Southern Regions. The effects of that are not felt just now because the rain fed crops have just been harvested or are still in the fields: the hungry months are January to March and people are fearing the worst. This is why irrigation is so important for the long term

But today I had a new experience. I’ve been spending my days indoors in meetings and staring at spreadsheets so I try to get out each day for a walk. My Malawian friends and colleagues don’t get this – “Why are you footing it when you have a car?” The concept of a walk for health reasons doesn’t make sense in this culture. But today’s walk took me to a garden I had seen on facebook. Ntchezgo Garden is an oasis of calm on the edge of the city and a beautiful reminder that there are flowers and trees and plants that are there for our pleasure, not just for food.

We’ll keep focussing on food production because someone once said, “I was hungry, did you feed me?”, but respect to the one who took the time to make a beautiful garden in the forest just because they could.