Malawi 2015-16

About half of Malawian households
(52%) use improved toilet facilities,
which are non-shared facilities that
prevent people from coming into
contact with human waste and can
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4 7
reduce the transmission of cholera,
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12
typhoid, and other diseases. Shared
toilet facilities of an otherwise
51
acceptable type are also common,
31
28
especially in urban areas; 51% of
urban households use shared
facility compared with 28% of rural
households (Figure 2.2). Seventeen
percent of households in Malawi
52
53
45
use unimproved toilet facilities,
with 6% of households not using
any toilet facility (Table 2.3).
Total Urban Rural
2.3 EXPOSURE TO SMOKE
INSIDE THE HOME AND OTHER HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS
2.3.1 Exposure to Smoke Inside the Home
Exposure to smoke inside the home, either from cooking with solid fuels or smoking tobacco, has
potentially harmful health effects. Ninety-eight percent of households in Malawi use some type of solid
fuel for cooking, with virtually all being wood (Table 2.4); this figure has remained unchanged since 2010
(98%). Exposure to cooking smoke is greater when cooking takes place inside the house rather than in a
separate building or outdoors. In Malawi, cooking is done in a separate building in 60% of households, a
figure that is nearly identical to the 2010 MDHS (59%). In 12% of households, someone smokes inside the
house on daily basis.
2.3.2 Other Housing Characteristics
The survey collected data on access to electricity, flooring materials, and the number of rooms used for
sleeping. Forty-nine percent of urban households and 4% of rural households have access to electricity.
Overall, 11% of households in Malawi have electricity.
The materials used for flooring include earth or sand (74% of households) and cement (25%). There exist,
however, considerable differences in flooring material according to place of residence. The most common
flooring material in rural areas is earth or sand (83%), while the most common flooring material in urban
areas is cement (71%).
2.4 HOUSEHOLD WEALTH AND DURABLE GOODS
Figure 2.2 Household toilet facilities by residence
Percent distribution of households by type of toilet facilities
Wealth index
Households are given scores based on the number and kinds of consumer
goods they own, ranging from a television to a bicycle or car, and housing
characteristics such as source of drinking water, toilet facilities, and flooring
materials. These scores are derived with principal component analysis.
National wealth quintiles are compiled by assigning the household score to
each usual (de jure) household member, ranking each person in the
household population by their score, and then dividing the distribution into five
equal categories, each with 20% of the population.
Sample: Households
Open defecation (no
facility/bush/field)
Unimproved facility
Shared facility
Improved sanitation
Housing Characteristics and Household Population • 11