Struggling to buy sugar or queuing for fuel might tell a story of how hard times are. But for Esther Tembo from Traditional Authority Makhwira in Chikwawa District, walking over six kilometres daily to fetch water depicts a different kind of struggle Malawians are experiencing.
The scorching sun that characterises the Lower Shire district is something Tembo is used to, but she is getting frustrated by the day because her routine is becoming a burden she can hardly bear.
Makhwira community borehole project started about five months ago promised relief. Unfortunately, the borehole drilling company packed and left when it failed to find water.
An organisation that wanted to ease water scarcity challenges initiated the Makhwira project.
“When we were first briefed about it at a community forum, we felt relieved with the prospect of having a borehole closer to us. Our excitement grew when the borehole drilling company arrived,” said Tembo.
She said about a month after the company started the project, it could not find water and despite moving from site to site, no water could be found.
The average depth of a borehole in low-lying areas is around 50 to 60 metres while in an upland area it hovers to an average of 80 metres.
Unfortunately, the company could not scout for further sites; it packed and moved elsewhere.
Tembo said: “Walking for hours to fetch water is exhausting, but we have no alternative.”
Sadly, the water they fetch also contains debris which they fear could harm them. It is also unsafe for their livestock which the majority of families own.
Several years ago, Tembo said the community had a borehole which stopped functioning.
“It was easier then, but it slowly extracted water from the ground and thieves stole the equipment,” she said.
With statistics showing that roughly 85 percent of Malawians depend on groundwater, there is a probability that water scarcity might worsen, according to data from the Department of Water Resources published in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs 2024 Annual Economic Report.
The report states that in 2024, estimated water availability was at 1 044.6 m3/capita/year, down from 1 102.5 m3/capita/year in 2023.
“This shows that Malawi is slightly heading towards becoming a water-scarce country if nothing happens, as it is getting closer to being below 1 000 m3/capita/year, a mark that is used to measure the water scarcity of any country based on annual renewable water,” reads the report.
“This situation is exacerbated by the uneven spatial and seasonal distribution of water resources in the country.”
This means Malawi’s prospects of achieving Sustainable Development Goal number six which focuses on ensuring safe water and sanitation for all by 2030 remains murky.
The situation also shows that Malawi has an uphill task in achieving its long-term development blueprint-Malawi 2063, which prioritises improved access to safe water as a key component.
With the water-scarcity persisting in the midst of the impending crisis, the report states that the need for reliable hydrological data becomes more urgent.
It states that available hydrological data will stimulate political commitment and public and private investments, including facilitating informed decision-making at all levels; hence, triggering well-placed investments targeted towards optimum health, environment and economic gains.
Further reads the report: “For example, information on drinking water quality, including wastewater discharge, helps support public health interventions and the protection of water bodies.”
BASEflow team leader Muthi Nhlema said in an interview on Wednesday Malawi needs a decisive, coordinated action before the country reaches a point where recovery becomes impossible.
Founded in 2017 by Nhlema—a civil engineer by profession, BASEflow is a Malawian social enterprise focusing on improving sustainability of groundwater sources for rural populations.
Nhlema said the core issue is that while rainfall patterns in Malawi have remained relatively stable over the years with fluctuations due to events like El Nino, the population has not.
He said: “We are experiencing rapid population growth, currently averaging between 2.5 percent and three percent per year. As a result, even though the total volume of water received annually has not changed significantly, the per capita availability of water is declining steadily.
“What exacerbates this situation is the environmental degradation driven by population pressure. As people seek land for settlement, farming and energy, they clear forests and wetlands-ecosystems that are critical for slowing surface runoff and allowing rainwater to seep into the ground, re charging our aquifers.”
National Water Resources Authority senior civic education and public relations officer Masozi Kasambara on Wednesday asked for more time before responding. When we followed up with him on Friday, he said a draft response was ready but was awaiting technical input.
But to avert a potential disaster, Nhlema said understanding water as a resource will be important. He also said promoting and scaling up sustainable land-use practices-like agroforestry, deep-bed farming and soil conservation-that both improve livelihoods and support groundwater recharge.
“We cannot manage what we do not measure. This is why the establishment of a standalone Ministry of Water and Sanitation was so critical. Prior to its creation, water issues lacked visibility and adequate funding. As a result, our groundwater monitoring network collapsed-84 percent of our approximately 100 monitoring wells were non-functional,” he said.
In her published article titled Lack of Access to Water in Rural Malawi, author Marissa Getts observes that human activity is playing a key role in depletion of groundwater which will become catastrophic.
“Put simply, groundwater use is outpacing natural groundwater replenishment. Evidence suggests that groundwater may not be able to support increased consumption demands from Malawi’s rapidly expanding population in the coming years,” she said.
According to the Annual Economic Report, reforms in the water sector remain a good foundation for implementation of strategic interventions in averting a potential disaster.
Such reforms include development of a strategic plan for the water sector, and review of the National Water Policy which is anticipated to foster an increase in water availability in coming years.
Interventions such as construction of water harvesting structures and promotion of managed aquifer recharge will also go a long way in increasing water availability.
Reads part of the report: “As one way of increasing water availability for various productive uses, the sector continues to enhance the efficient operation of the Kamuzu Barrage at Liwonde using the Kamuzu Barrage Operational Model (Kabom).
“This enables the regulation of flow in the Shire River to meet hydropower generation and other water demands downstream, but it also helps to regulate the water level in Lake Malawi.”
