Malawi: Spate of disasters leave communities poorer, more vulnerable

After a long day working on his small piece of land about 500 metres off the banks of the Shire River in southern district of Chikwawa, Malawi; Mateyu Chilachila and his family retired to bed to recharge for another day on the farm. It was a busy week of weeding the family farm of maize, sorghum, tomatoes, bananas, and sugarcane. They were determined to get the best of their crops.

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Chilachila took the warning with scepticism because the last major flooding events in 2015 and 2019 did not get to his farm.  But later that night, woken by his wife who feared for the worst as the rains continued; he groped out to inspect the house. He was met with deep cracks on the wall and, together with his wife and three children, they sought refuge about a kilometre away.

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From his earnings of 170, 000 Malawian Kwacha ($190) from last season’s harvest of tomatoes, maize and okra he managed to take care of his household needs including school fees for two of his six children, and bought two pigs. One of those pigs succumbed to disease while the other died in the floods.  

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