Piecework demands increase as desperation mounts

Hopelessness best describes Jessica Nkhoma’s life that was once a picture of comfort.

Three years ago, the Mulanje-based widowed mother of two ate three meals a day.

But the economic landscape has forced her life to be on a downward spiral as she struggles to make ends meet.

“I was laid off from work in 2021 because the factory where I worked struggled financially,” she said.

Nkhoma lost her husband, who also worked at the factory, two months before her job loss.

Despite receiving gratuity, her needs were insurmountable.

The second hand clothes business she started failed.

As the money ran out, Nkhoma was forced to survive through pieceworks.

In the midst of her struggles, she got employed at a maize mill last year where she is earning K12 000 per fortnight.

This year, she harvested half a bag of cassava which she hopes to survive on.

Nkhoma’s life mirrors that of millions of Malawians, as is the case across African countries, whose living conditions have gotten dire as detailed in a May 27 2024 Afrobarometer report titled ‘Africans’ Bleak Views of Economic Conditions Match their Escalating Experience of Poverty’.

The report findings emanate from a survey conducted between late 2021 and mid-2023.

The report paints a grim picture that during the period of the survey, 74 out of every 100 Malawians’ living conditions have been bad while 14 out of every 100 perceived their living conditions to be fairly good.

The survey established that between 2021 and 2023, 12 out of every 100 Malawians either did not know whether their conditions were good or bad, or refused to take part.

While the report does not describe a good or bad living condition, respondents were asked to describe their own present living conditions.

Out of 39 surveyed countries, Malawi was second from the bottom, with Botswana the country whose residents’ personal living conditions worsened more than any other country under the review period.

Beatrice Chifunga from Chirombo Village in Neno District is among the 74 percent with deteriorating living standards.

“I cannot afford a proper meal and I cannot even remember the last time I had one,” said the single mother.

Chifunga claimed that her husband, a minibus conductor, ran away last year when life became tough. She relies on piecework.

Mary Mwafunga from Area 25 in Lilongwe has seen her life crumble as a result of the economic turmoil.

The single mother of one also relies on piecework and sometimes survives on porridge.

Jameson Bandawe from Mzuzu is in a similar predicament.

“I got laid off in 2021. The pieceworks are no longer there because people don’t have money,” he said.

Bandawe plans to take his family to his home village in Rumphi to escape poverty.

The Afrobarometer report attributes the worsening living conditions, among the surveyed African countries, to an economic turbulence from Covid-19 effects, Russia’s war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions and rising interest rates amid public debt and constrained fiscal resources.

It found that Malawians want the government to focus on managing the economy and high unemployment.

The report adds that only four out of every 100 Malawians have permanent jobs while three out of every 100 have part-time jobs.

It shows that 57 out of every 100 are unemployed and have given up on finding work while 35 out of every 100 Malawians who are unemployed are looking for work.

When compared with the 39 surveyed countries, Malawi was again second bottom with Niger the country with the worst employment status.

Part of the report reads: “African governments will need creative strategies, committed partners and sustained investments, job creation, infrastructure, education, healthcare and technology to make economic recovery a household reality”.

It further shows that 62 out of every 100 Malawians feel the economy will worsen while only 17 out of every 100 feel it will be much better and eight out of be the same.every 100 Malawians feel it will

Centre for Social Concern economic governance programmes officer Agnes Nyirongo on Friday said the Afrobarometer report highlights an urgent need to address economic challenges.

“The findings paint a stark picture of the economic challenges confronting Malawians. With three-fourths of the population experiencing either moderate or high lived poverty, the trend has consistently been negative over the years,” she said.

The report comes at a time the National Planning Commission indicates that Malawi will unlikely become a lower middle income country by 2030 and may only reach the goal 15 years later if it remains on the current lethargic path.

Consumer rights activist John Kapito on Thursday said: “Malawians will remain poor if we don’t invest in production and export or stop spending on luxuries that don’t add value to the growth of the economy”.

Minister of Information and Digitilisation Moses Kunkuyu said: “There is obviously a percentage of poor Malawians just like other countries facing similar economic challenges. From 2020, the situation has worsened for others due to our sole reliance on rainfed agriculture which has been affected by natural disasters.”