Most frequent unmet need for Malawians is cash income—Afrobarometer

* More than 93% of respondents to the survey say they went without an income at least once during the previous year

* Including 63% who say this happened ‘many times’ or ‘always’

By Duncan Mlanjira

The most frequent unmet need for Malawians is a cash income, observes a survey by Afrobarometer — the pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance and quality of life.

It says more than 93% of respondents to the survey say they went without an income at least once during the previous year, including 63% who say this happened ‘many times’ or ‘always’.

Entitled ‘Amid economic gloom, few Malawians hold hope for improvement’, Afrobarometer uses the experiential measure of ‘lived poverty’ to assess deprivation based on the frequency with which households go without five basic life necessities — enough food, enough clean water, medical care, enough cooking fuel, and a cash income.

The survey discovers that “almost 73% experienced food shortages at least once, including 35% who frequently went without enough to eat”.

“The same proportion often went without needed medical care (34%), while slightly fewer suffered frequent shortages of cooking fuel (29%) and clean water (24%).”

The report began by indicating that the socio-economic landscape of Malawi presents a complex web of opportunities and challenges and quotes the World Bank (2023) and Chunga & Tsoka (2022) as saying: “The country is rich in potential, resources, culture, and human capital, yet its people have long grappled with poverty, unemployment, and limited access to basic services.”

Thus Afrobarometer maintains that “exacerbated by the disruptive effects of the CoVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and last year’s deadly Cyclone Freddy, the country’s economic woes are reflected in high inflation and shortages of petrol and foreign currency”. “The Malawian kwacha was devalued by 25% in May 2022 and again by 44% in November 2023. In November, President Lazarus Chakwera suspended all international travel for his government, including himself (Jegwa, 2023; Al Jazeera, 2022; World Bank, 2023; African Development Bank, 2023).

“The International Monetary Fund (2023) has approved a US$175 million loan that ‘aims to support the authorities’ commitment to restore macroeconomic stability, build a foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth, including to strengthen resilience to climate-related shocks, and address weaknesses in governance and institutions’.”

How do ordinary Malawians assess their country’s persistent economic challenges?

Findings from Afrobarometer’s 2022 survey show that citizens overwhelmingly see their government as failing on economic issues and believe that their country is going in the wrong direction. Few are optimistic that things will improve in the near future.”

The pan-African non-partisan survey research network team in Malawi, led by the Centre for Social Research, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult Malawians in April 2022.

Its key findings are:

* Nearly 89% say the country is heading ‘in the wrong direction’ — a 39-percentage-point increase since 2012;

* Large majorities offer negative assessments of economic conditions: 85% describe the country’s economic situation as ‘fairly bad’ or ‘very bad’ and 74% say the same about their personal living conditions;

* Looking ahead, Malawians are pessimistic about the country’s economy. Only 16% think things will get better in 12 months’ time, while 63% expect them to get worse;

* More than eight in 10 citizens say the government is performing ‘fairly badly’ or ‘very badly’ on management of the economy (85%) and other key economic tasks;

* Management of the economy tops the list of most important problems that Malawians want their government to address;

* Almost two-thirds (63%) of citizens say they went without a cash income ‘many times’ or ‘always’ during the previous year, and 35% frequently went without enough food;

* Almost 37% experienced high levels of lived poverty during the past year, while another 38% experienced moderate lived poverty.

In its conclusion, Afrobarometer says the Round 9 survey “reveals overwhelming dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the economy”.

“Most Malawians express pessimism about the country’s direction, and few are optimistic that things will get better anytime soon. As majorities of citizens continue to experience shortages of basic life necessities, economic concerns take center stage as their top priority for government action.”