For decades, the sunbaked fields of the Shire Valley districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje have watched clouds pass with empty promises.
In the vast floodplain along the Shire River, rain-fed agriculture has become a perennial gamble and most farmers who planted with hope for a bumper harvest got nothing.
However, canals are under construction to channel water from the country’s largest river, which empties Lake Malawi, into the valley’s fertile alluvial farmlands so that farmers can afford at least two harvests a year.
The Shire Valley Transformation Project (SVTP), hyped to become the largest irrigation investment in Malawi’s history, promises to turn that gamble into a guarantee.
Once completed, the massive canals will irrigate over 43 000 hectares of cropped fields owned by thousands of smallholder farmers across the Shire Valley.
“This project is going to change lives,” says Judith Kusakala, 48, from Fombe Village in Chikwawa. “We won’t wait for rains anymore. We’ll grow crops all year round: tomatoes, rice, vegetables, and peppers.”
The farmer cannot wait to make huger history.
The project underway promises food security, jobs for the youth, increased exports and resilience against climate change.
For the southernmost valley often ravaged by floods and droughts, the SVTP is more than infrastructure; it signals hope.
But this hope comes with quiet risks of malaria, whose transmitters—female anopheles mosquitoes—thrive in stagnant water.
Where children wade through irrigation canals, bilharzia follows.
Health experts warn that while the project will water the land, it may also stir a wave of waterborne and vector-borne diseases if health and hygiene measures are not integrated into the rollout.
A study under the Shire Valley Vector Control Project highlights the importance of integrating public health measures into irrigation development to prevent a rise in water-related diseases such as malaria and bilharzia.
Senior researcher Themba Mzilahowa says the study aims to understand the impact of the project on diseases such as malaria and bilharzia.
His team recommends collaborative efforts among policymakers, community members and health departments.
“We assume that with the abundance of water, there may also be an increase in vectors, especially mosquitoes and snails. Early findings show that bilharzia is more prevalent, particularly among school children,” the researcher says.
The study is led by the African Institute for Development Policy (Afidep) in collaboration with Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Malawi Liverpool-Wellcome Trust.
Preliminary findings indicate that stagnant water and poorly maintained canals could contribute to the spread of diseases.
Eliza John, a Standard Three pupil at Mangulenje Primary School, fears for the worst.
“I was having pain while urinating and sometimes urinating blood. My mother took me to the hospital where they said I had bilharzia. It was too painful; I couldn’t go to school for days,” says the 11-year-old.
The researchers detected bilharzia in eight out of every 10 learners at her school.
“If no interventions are taken, the irrigation project risks creating disease hotspots,” Mzilahowa warns.
Malaria is already endemic in the Lower Shire region.
The disease, the largest killer of pregnant women and children aged below five, is expected to intensify as expanding wetlands and irrigated fields become mosquito breeding grounds.
Women and children, who spend hours in and around the water farming, fetching, or bathing, are especially vulnerable.
Chrissy Banda, a 29-year-old mother of two from Fombe, believes more has to be done before the project kicks off.
She says: “The government should distribute enough mosquito nets per family two or three times a year. They should also educate us on how we can protect ourselves from these diseases.
“Imagine right now my children suffer from malaria at least once a month, so what if the project starts? We will not be safe,” she adds.
The government and its partners plan to deploy health surveillance assistants, vector control programmes and community awareness campaigns in communities along the canals under construction.
SVTP communications officer Alice Kaunda acknowledges the concerns, but assures the public that safety measures being implemented.
She states: “We have seen the study and are working with the Chikwawa District Health Office and other partners to ensure surrounding communities are protected and knowledgeable.
“Environmental and social management plans have been developed for every canal component, and we are equipping nearby health facilities to respond.”
The construction of the irrigation project has delayed due to the destruction caused by Cyclone Ana near Kapichira Dam.
“This project was envisioned in the 1970s and we are determined to make it a life-changing initiative without compromising public health,” she said.
Still, the overall mood in the valley is one of cautious optimism.
Farmers speak of green fields, better incomes and a bright future where the youth will not need to migrate for work.
They only ask that the promise of transformation includes community safeguards, not just production.
As water flows into the veins of the valley, it carries both hope and hazard.
But communities worry it may not be enough.
“The water is a blessing,” says village head Fombe of Chikwawa, “but it must come with toilets, clinics and disease prevention tips. Otherwise, our people will eat today, but fall sick and die of preventable disease the next day.”
