Malawi cattle farmers travel farther as El Nino worsens drought

Mulanje, Malawi – Lawrence Abison walks along the bank of the Likhubula River, stopping every few metres to inspect the grass.He eventually moves towards a patch of green Napier grass and reeds.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘If I am to die, let it be here’: Malawians fleeing unrest in South Africalist 2 of 4Africa’s Green Revolution threatens traditional foodslist 3 of 4Malawi motorists queue for days as fuel shortage biteslist 4 of 4Mapping Africa’s energy wealth and 560 million who remain without powerend of listThe 25-year-old takes out a sickle. With three friends, he starts cutting. They work through the morning, tying the grass into bundles, carrying them uphill and returning to the river for more.They left Nsanjama, 27km away, at dawn.After two hours of cutting, they had gathered enough grass to feed 10 cattle for one day.Later that afternoon, dozens of other men carrying bundles of grass could be seen around Chitakale in Mulanje district. They had come from different directions, searching for fodder for cattle kept on farms across the district.“It’s very hard to find the grass these days, that’s why we have travelled this long distance,” Abison told Al Jazee...