Cattle farmers in southern Malawi’s Mulanje district are sending fodder gatherers farther from home as grass becomes harder to find, raising costs and reducing milk production, according to an Al Jazeera report published November 1.
Lawrence Abison, 25, and three companions travelled 27 kilometres from Nsanjama to the Likhubula River. After two hours of cutting grass, they had collected enough to feed 10 cattle for just one day. Abison told Al Jazeera that even there, supplies were too limited to last a week and they would need to search farther afield.
The gatherers say their trips now begin earlier in the year. Journeys that previously started after October had already been under way for months in 2026. Their search also puts them in competition with riverside residents who use reeds for mats and grass for livestock.
The report places those pressures against Malawi’s dry spells and high temperatures during the 2023/24 rainfall season, when El Nino disrupted rainfall across southern Africa. Residents also describe declining riverside vegetation, while cattle keeper Macdonald Khandalawo blames cultivation along riverbanks for worsening local shortages.
Khandalawo, who owns 10 cattle and is treasurer of the New Thuchira Milk Bulking Group, says his cows produce less milk because they eat less and feed arrives later. Farmers also say maize bran, used to supplement grass, has become scarce and expensive. Much of Khandalawo’s recent milk income has gone toward fodder collection and bran.
Members of the cooperative save maize stalks and crop residues to help bridge shortages. In Nkando, farmer Alefa Saulo is waiting for rain to restore pasture as her three cows grow thinner. “The animals are hungry but I can’t give them food,” she told Al Jazeera.