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AFRICA
MALAWI
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
MALAWI
The Government of Malawi developed a Water Resources Management
MOZAMBIQUE
Policy and Strategy in 1994 to ensure that a large proportion of the population
has access to safe drinking water. The backbone of the strategy
LILONGWE
was community involvement in the management and maintenance of
water supply systems in their areas.
Access to safe drinking water available within one kilometer has not
MOZAMBIQUE
changed much since 1990. In 1985, 47% of the rural population and 85% of
Blantyre
the urban population (the equivalent of 52% of the entire population) had
access to safe drinking water in Malawi. In 1992, access to safe drinking water, especially
in the rural areas, was lower than in 1985, but in 2000, coverage increased to 62%. ZIMBABWE
On the basis of the 1985 estimates, Malawi had aimed to increase the number of people with access to safe drinking water from 52% to
78% by 2015.The country coverage, according to 2000 estimates, was 62% and access increased by about 1% per annum. Assuming this
increase is sustained, it would take 16 years to achieve the target of 78%. However, this MDG water target could be achieved since the
Government plans to increase the number of boreholes and water schemes, and to intensify the maintenance of existing boreholes and
water schemes by ensuring active involvement of communities in water management.
Currently, there are 15,287 hand pumps, sufficient to serve 4 million people. There are also 56 rural gravity-piped water supply
schemes with over 10,000 taps that could reach an additional 1.2 million people. Unfortunately, about 40% of these taps are dysfunctional,
which means that the number of people served under
this scheme could be less than estimated.
MDG7
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $9,280,000
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $70,000,000
Total MPU and Bilateral: $3,156,324
Total: $82,436,324
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
151.2 ODP tonnes
Project synergies promote Methyl Bromide reduction and HIV/AIDS Awareness 2
Still, the planned development of new rural piped water schemes,
construction of communal water points in urban areas, rehabilitation
of existing schemes and maintenance of boreholes by communities
are all expected to contribute towards meeting the MDG targets for
environmental sustainability. Increased community involvement in
the planning, construction and maintenance of water supply systems
will make the achievement of the target of halving the number of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015
more likely. 1
Building upon the project’s outreach potential in rural areas, UNDP saw the opportunity to launch simultaneous efforts to support
the national fight against HIV/AIDS, a serious concern for Malawi. Drawing upon the project’s field training days, the project
CHEMICALS
offered the dissemination of HIV/AIDS related messages developed by national stakeholders and funded by the UNDP HIV/AIDS
programme. National project members also collaborated with a group of farmers involved with the Malawi National Aids
Commission to promote awareness and ultimately better protect the agricultural sector’s workforce.
ZAMBIA
Lake
Malawi
TANZANIA
SPOTLIGHT
The insecticide methyl bromide (MeBr) has long been used by farmers in the heartlands of central Malawi to prevent insects
from damaging their tobacco crops, the country's chief foreign exchange earner. Until 2000, rural Malawian farmers, however,
knew very little about the long-term adverse environmental effects posed by this ozone-depleting substance and Malawi stood
as the second-largest user of MeBr in Africa.
Beginning in 2000, UNDP, the Government of Malawi and the Agricultural Research and Extension Trust (ARET) collaborated on
a US$ 2.99 million project approved under the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund. The project has aimed to phase-out 185
metric tonnes use of MeBr. Grower response has been very positive and as of 1 January 2005, Malawi instituted a 100% ban on
imports and consumption of MeBr
Local production of materials further encouraged alternatives to MeBr, replacing it primarily with the floating tray system (FTS).
A number of small-scale private sector enterprises are working with ARET to research the viability of using various forms of agricultural
waste to mass produce the substrates required for the FTS process, thereby encouraging local and regional market
potential for small businesses. Reuse of this waste, rather than its disposal through burning, contributes to reducing local air pollution.
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