Maize

This is part of the maize crop, which is the staple diet for Malawians.
Everyone eats a food called nsima, which is boiled maize flour. As a Malawian, if you haven't eaten nsima, then you haven't eaten!!

This maize is inter-cropped with a nitrogen fixing tree called Gliricidia which fixes nitrogen and seriously lessens the need for artificial fertilizers. Combining this with compost we use none at all. This is the first year for Gliricidia in this location

According to World Agroforestry Centre, this species is becoming an important part of farming practices in Africa. G. sepium has a combination of desirable properties. Because it fixes nitrogen in the soil, it boosts crop yields significantly without the expense of chemical fertilizers. In addition, it tolerates being cut back to crop height year after year. The trees go into a dormant state when they are cut back, so the root system is not competing straight away for the nutrients, and the crop is free to become established. The trees only really start to come out out of the dormant phase when the crop is already tall.