By Dunford Junior  

At  time when  the country’s folk music seem to be on its death bed, comes  the messiah of it, the Conservation Music Malawi Chapter (CMMC) as they have announced plans to revive and digitalize folk music in the country to advocate environmental conservation messages.

This comes at a time when both local and international organization worldwide  are advocating for a healthy planet to ensure that the war against deforestation and pollution turns victorious.

With an aim of enriching the country with productive folk music. CMMC have planned a countrywide tour to document folk songs from different tribes, a move uprooted from their belief in capitalizing on the dominance of local urban and contemporary music to fuse with folk for both urban and rural communities.

The Chapter will soon announced the dates to commence the tour later next month.

 Quoted in a press statement released by the Conservation Music Malawi Chapter, CMMC secretary Wezzie Chisenga said the delay was a deliberate move to give time for the country’s elections period.

“We wanted to give space for the elections. We will soon be rolling out to record new and collect old folk songs.”

He adds: “Such folk songs resonate and relate to locals. Therefore it will help in our advocacy and awareness campaigns in environmental conservation. In addition, we want to document material to make it accessible to researchers.”

Conservation Music organization aims at facilitating conversations between artists and community members in identifying local environmental issues and finding both engaging as well as exciting methods of expressing them.

The organization also leads all sorts of live workshops, concerts and other events to benefit musicians, communities, schools and all people interested in the union of music with the environment.

Recently, Conservation Music international team embarked on a 13-month sea-to-summit caravan from Cape Town’s drying coast to Tanzania’s melting glacier.

During the caravan, the team formed eco-educational music collaborations while working with and documenting the existing efforts of local NGOs along the way.