While fish catches on many shores of Lake Malawi have dwindled due to the climate crisis and overfishing, Mbenje Island in Salima District has maintained a steady supply of fish.
This success is largely due to the islanders’ traditional stewardship practices, which emphasise sustainable fishing, including the recommended minimum fish size of 250 grammes for consumption.
Located in the middle of Lake Malawi, Mbenje Island attracts fishermen from across the country, particularly from lakeshore districts of Mangochi, Nkhotakota, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay, Karonga, and Likoma and Chizumulu islands.
However, despite being a fishing hub, Mbenje Island under the jurisdiction of Traditional Authority Makanjira lacks basic sanitation facilities, including toilets, which is a growing concern for the community.
Rabisoni Chipangula , secretary of the Mbenje Island Committee and chairperson of Chikombe Beach Village Committee (BVC), expressed frustration about the absence of toilets at the island. He pointed out that while Malawi joins the world in commemorating World Toilet Day, a United Nations initiative to raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis, Mbenje Island’s needs have gone unheeded for nearly two decades.
“It’s almost 24 years now, since we started appealing for help for modern toilets, but the situation remains unchanged,” Chipangula said.
“The island is rocky, making it difficult to dig latrines. We have approached partners like Ripple Africa, Usaid through the Refresh programme, and the Salima District Council for assistance, but there has been no response.
‘ ‘ J u s t yesterday, health workers from Salima District Hospital visited to distribute mosquito nets, and they witnessed the poor state of sanitation on the island.”
Currently, fishermen on Mbenje Island have resorted to using a designated area as a makeshift toilet.
Wesnet executive director Willies Chanozga Mwandira says despite that Mbenje is rocky, there are some technologies such as using the same stones to build toilet facilities on top of the rocks not downwards.
He said all what is required is proper advice from the District Commissioner and the council can mobilise the service providers to go there and provide with the right directions in terms of how those people can have proper toilets.
Mwandira commented on the government of Malawi’s plans to start pumping water from Lake Malawi and supply it to the City of Lilongwe through the Salima-Lilongwe water project.
“That is a very important project for the country and as Malawians that is a resilient source of water. It can’t be good to learn that some people who live at an island do not have toilets.
‘‘The imagination that would come is that our water in the lake will not be suitable for human consumption, it will be contaminated because of the fishermen in places like at Mbenje island,” he said.
He added: “I think it is important that we do something about it.’’
Mwandira, however, said communities at Mbenje can learn from some of the fishermen nearby in Nkhotakota District who have successfully generated revenue from toilet facilities which have been used to improve sanitation infrastructure.
Mbenje Island’s fishing by-laws are designated to allow both f ish product ion and agriculture to thrive. Fishermen on the island typically stay from April to November, when fishing season opens.
During the off season , they engage in agricultural production, which helps to sustain the community. This year, approximately 3 000 fishermen were on the island at the start of the season, with numbers growing during peak fishing months.
Amakhosi J e r e , deputy countr y director for the Re s t o r i n g Fi s h e r i e s f o r Sustainable Livelihoods in Lake Malawi (Refresh) project funded by Usaid explained that Salima District Council is the primary authority for addressing service delivery issues, including sanitation.
He not ed that Refresh project provided support in terms of training and capacity building, but the responsibility f o r b u i l d i n g s a n i t a t i o n infrastructure lies with local authorities.
“Salima District Council is best placed to comment on issues of service delivery,” Jere said.
“We have helped to highlight the gaps, but the responsibility for addressing these issues falls to the local government.”
Salima District Fisheries confirmed that Mbenje Island lacks toilet faci l ities, and also acknowledge that the community’s request for help has been long ignored.
District fisheries officer Patrick Zakeyo said that while his office has raised concerns with the relevant authorities, they do not have the resources to construct toilets on the island.
He suggested that a self-f i n a n cing mod e l w h e r e local authorities collect fees from fishermen to fund the construction of toilets could be a possible solution.
A visit to Mbenje Island reveals the challenges faced by the community but while the islanders themselves lacks toilet facilities, Chikombe Beach, which serves as a transit point to Mbenje, has seen the construction of several toilets through the Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Development project, an African Development Bank funded initiative supporting infrastructure development along the Lakeshore.
Historically, Mbenje Island was home to a permanent population who lived in grass thatched houses made from sticks and mud.
The island was considered as sacred by its inhabitants, and people believed that killing a snake an endemic species on the island would bring storms as punishment. To appease the spirits, the island’s chief Makanjira, initiated sacrifices and regulations.
Though much has changed over the centuries, including the migration of many former island residents to Chikombe Beach, traditional practices remain strong. For example, the closed fishing season with patrols are still strictly being enforced, and the island’s bylaw prohibit women from visiting the island to avoid angering the spirits that are believed to reside there.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement 2024 statistics says 3.5 billion people still live without access to safely managed sanitation and even more concerning, an estimated 419 million people still practice open defecation, which does not only increase the risk of infectious diseases, but also puts people, particularly, women and children in unsafe and vulnerable situations.
The 3 000 fishermen’s call for help is worth attending to.
