Malawi has called for measures to cushion the effects of urban migration that piling pressure on land resource as more people continue settling in cities.

Miss Eunice Chipangula, Deputy Secretary for Lands and Housing made the call when she opened a stakeholder’s workshop on the draft National Land Use Management Policy in Lilongwe on Tuesday.

“Over the past years there have been a number of new developments like climate change which need to be addressed in the policy,” said Chipangula.

She said political, cultural, environmental, economic and other factors may influence or determine the way land resources are used and managed.

Land experts at the workshop said more attention needs to be given to urban areas as deliberate government programmes and projects such as the integrated rural development programmes with its famous Rural Growth Centres Project are turning rural areas into urban areas.

Examples of rural areas that are growing very fast without proper land use planning and management include Mponela, Chinkhoma and Zalewa.