On The Ground in Malawi: the country

A land of beauty and challenges

Malawi is situated in southeastern Africa, in the Great Rift Valley. It shares borders with Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique.

Malawi is a landlocked country with no access to sea. However, about one fifth of its area is covered by Lake Malawi, a vast inland sea also known as Lake Nyasa. 

Area and people

With an area of 118,484 square kilometres (45,766 square miles), and a population of approximately 12 million, Malawi is one of the most densely populated countries in southeastern Africa. Most of the people live in rural areas.

The official languages are Chichewa and English. While more than half of the people are Christians, the number of Muslims is growing rapidly. However, other spiritual beliefs still prevail: traditional healers are widely respected and the presence of spirits is considered to have a bearing on everyday life.

Climate

The climate of Malawi is subtropical. During the rainy season, which normally lasts from November to April or May, it rains on most days. The other half of the year, the dry season, is characterized with very little rainfall.

Daily temperatures hover around 20–30 degrees C (70–85 degrees F) during the rainy season. The dry season has two different phases: the cool dry season, from May to August, with daily temperatures around 20 degrees C (70 degrees F) and the hot dry season, from September to Mid-November, with daily highs of over 30 degrees C (over 85 degrees F).

Nature, economics and health intertwined

Malawi is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Poverty is intertwined with several other challenges, including high incidence of various diseases and environmental degradation.

Some pockets of wildlife with remarkable diversity still remain in protected areas. Outside these, however, deforestation is a significant problem. Less than half of the original forests in Malawi exist today. In addition, overfishing in Lake Malawi has resulted in a dramatic decline in fish populations.

These combined difficulties have a direct effect on people. Finding firewood becomes ever more difficult for housewives, while diminishing fish catches have contributed to malnutrition and aggravated the problem of famine.

Despite the problems, there are reasons for hope. For example, local people have been actively involved in the WWF Finland project, turning visions and plans into reality. Cooperation with and support from both government officials and politicians have also been encouraging.