JANEEMO welcomed by community at festival
In late July, 2000 people celebrated a JANEEMO festival in Mirole Secondary School, Chikwawa. Malawian energy and environment minister, Grain Malunga, attended the festival in his first official engagement since the recent election.
With a brief ranging from forestry to sustainable energy, and an academic background, he was well-informed and keen to learn more about the potential of JANEEMO for Malawi.
At the festival, farmers from a wide group of villages demonstrated processing and use of the JANEEMO crops – including oil-pressing, soap-making and lamp-making.
Support and speeches were given by the district commissioner, a chief of the village chiefs, the chairman of Rab food processors (who is hoping to buy moringa powder from the villagers), a forestry civil servant, and Grain Malunga himself. He said Malawi faces challenges of deforestation and unsustainable demand for energy, adding: "The three trees of JANEEMO and projects like it will help tackle these problems. They will restore a degraded environment, and people will reap the benefits at the same time.”
"We are looking into all renewable energy sources. Biofuels have a bad reputation. This project will help ensure not all biofuel is seen in the same light. The biogas project is great too. Every village can produce energy from the droppings of its own cattle."
