The Greenbelt Authority (GBA) has urged landowners in Group Village Heads Katolora and Mwangolera under Paramount Chief Kyungu in Karonga to register their land within the Nthola Illola Irrigation Scheme to mitigate potential land related conflicts.

GBA's Land Administration Manager Oscar Matope said this, Thursday during a training for Data Collectors and Data Processors for Customary Land Registration at the Nthola Illola Irrigation Scheme which is under construction.

Matope said; "The scheme is being developed on land that belongs to the community. We are supposed to make sure that their land parcels are well registered, demarcated and surveyed to ensure that each farmer or community member has a certificate for his or her parcel of land.

"The land has to be secure for irrigation farming to take place because if we have disputes then we cannot use the land," he added.

Team Leader for Land Reforms Implementation Unit (LRIU), Eunice Mphonda urged people to embrace the land registration activity saying it is a way of securing ownership.

"Secure land tenure is very crucial for irrigation farming as we will start with adjudication, demarcation then registration which will be followed by issuance of customary estate certificates. People should take this opportunity to have their land registered because the Malawi government aims to register each and every land parcel in Malawi,"said Mphonda.

District Commissioner for Karonga Frank Mkandawire urged all Karonga residents to register their parcels land to reduce conflicts.

"We usually encounter land disputes when parents die but land registration will give communities control over their land, enabling them to make informed decisions about its use and management,"Mkandawire said.

Group Village Head Mwangolera said he will sensitise people about exercise since some had misconceptions that, by registering their land, they will be giving it away to the government.