Mwandama, Malawi
Population |
35000 |
Villages |
7 |
The Mwandama cluster is located in the southern region of Malawi’s Zomba district. The region is characterized by native vegetation of the Miombo woodlands. The area is intensively cultivated both by smallholders growing maize, pigeon peas, cassava and groundnuts, and by the commercial estate owners growing tobacco and maize. The main cropping season is between November and April and most of the crops are harvested around May. Livestock management is practiced at a small scale and the common livestock are chickens and goats. There are only 3 cows in the entire Mwandama village.
Large privately-owned tobacco plantations, which surround the seven villages, provide day labor for many people at wages of $0.50 per day, but they also impose significant repercussions on the development of surrounding communities. Plantation owners restrict the usage of roads to the villages, and the availability of work gives families an excuse to keep their children out of school. As a result, school attendance rates are extremely low.
The Mwandama cluster is in the world’s only region that has seen both a rise in temperature and a drop in rainfall in recent years. These changes have led to common recurrent famines. Nearly 90% of people in the Mwandama Millennium Village cluster live in extreme poverty. This is a much higher proportion compared to the 65% that live below the poverty line in the entire country.
Village Characteristics by Sector
The average maize yield without fertilizer is 0.5 tons per hectare. Frequent droughts which have occurred over the years due to El NiÑo effects have compounded the problems of crop production in the area. In recent years, most of the households have produced food that lasts only through August. This means families run for a period of six months without food. During this period of food shortage, most people are forced to sell labor in the surrounding estates at a meager salary in order to buy food.
Malaria and HIV/AIDS are major public health problems. While Malawi’s government encourages the use of bed nets, many in the cluster are too poor to buy them. Approximately 14.2% of people aged 15-49 throughout Malawi are infected with HIV/AIDS. Malawi’s under-five mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. Mwandama’s nearest dispensary and hospital, which are 7 km and 24 km away, respectively, are understaffed and unequipped to handle the medical problems of the villagers.
While the introduction of free primary education in Malawi in 1994 led to increased enrolment rates, studies have generally shown that roughly 30% of those children actually completed primary school. The main bottleneck to achieving universal primary education is the lack of infrastructure such as classrooms and toilets in many parts of the country. As a result, many children do not enroll in school at all. In Mwandama children walk 7 km each way to attend schools that have no furniture and few basic supplies. Some of the schools have classrooms that are made of thatched grass and schools get interrupted often during the rainy season due to leaking.
Water in the cluster comes mostly from unprotected springs. Most of the villages have no perennial streams from which gravity piped schemes can be constructed. Almost all the villages are surrounded by commercial farms which means almost all surface water resources are prone to heavy pollution from various pesticides and chemical farm inputs like fertilizers.
Intervention highlights |
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Agriculture: Increase crop yields and decrease hunger |
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The MVP, in partnership with the Malawi national fertilizer subsidy program, was able to provide maize seed and fertilizers at a subsidized rate. Rather than purchasing inputs on credit, farmers in Mwandama receive fully subsidized inputs at the start of the season, and pay back approximately maize to the school meals program at the end of the season. In 2007, the Malawi cluster had a tremendously successful harvest, producing crop yields averaging 5.5 tons of maize per hectare, an increase of 1100% since the start of the project.
Many of Mwandama’s farmers have diversified their production to include high value fruits, vegetables and herbs. Additionally, the MVP conducted extensive training for farmers on livestock management, post-harvest management, irrigation and compost and manure production. The MVP also supported some households to begin beekeeping. Nearly 900 farmers have participated in irrigation activities and winter cropping in the low-lying dambos. |
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Health: Improve access to basic medical services and combat the spread of major diseases |
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During the constructions of three new health clinics and the rehabilitation of the existing Thondwe clinic, the MVP has launched twice-monthly mobile outreach clinics throughout the community to provide basic care, family planning, ante-natal care, malaria treatment and vaccinations. Outreach clinics have been very successful in ensuring access to primary care until the permanent clinics are available. Furthermore, there are 45 trained CHWs active in the Mwandama cluster to provide household level care. More than 4,400 people received treatment for malaria at Mwandama’s outreach clinics and Thondwe clinic in 2008.
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Education |
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While the introduction of free primary education in Malawi in 1994 led to increased enrolment rates, studies have generally shown that roughly 30% of those children actually completed primary school. The main bottleneck to achieving universal primary education is the lack of infrastructure such as classrooms and toilets in many parts of the country. As a result, many children do not enroll in school at all. In Mwandama children walk 7 km each way to attend schools that have no furniture and few basic supplies. Some of the schools have classrooms that are made of thatched grass and schools get interrupted often during the rainy season due to leaking.
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Infrastructure |
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Presently, the water sources constructed or rehabilitated by the MVP serve more than 18,000 people, more than half of Mwandama’s population. In 2008, all of the five kilometers of planned road rehabilitation were completed and two new bridges were constructed. Additionally, the infrastructure team, together with UNDP, conducted a feasibility study for the extension of the grid to the cluster’s institutions. With respect to household lighting, a program was introduced in Mwandama to increase household lighting for reading and working, and reduce reliance on kerosene and fuelwood. More than 200 solar-powered lanterns have already been sold throughout the community and another order for 300 has been placed.
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Community Development |
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| The Malawi cluster community continues to be the driving force behind the implementation of the project. In addition to the village committees established in the areas of water, education, and agriculture, community members have organized themselves to work on the preliminary construction of the clinics and schools described above. Community members have been collecting sand and stones as well as clearing land for the structures. In addition, the community has begun the process of constructing and burning bricks for use in the buildings. |
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