Malawi: Introduction

Malawi is a low-income, landlocked country in Southern Africa facing severe economic and climatic vulnerabilities. Despite a stable democratic governance structure and the long-term 'Malawi Vision 2063' blueprint, the nation struggles with high poverty rates, a heavy reliance on agriculture, and significant fiscal deficits. Recent shocks, including El Niño-induced droughts in 2024 and the 2025 freezing of USAID funds, have exacerbated food insecurity and budgetary pressures.

• Malawi has established a long-term development strategy called Malawi Vision 2063 (MW2063), which aims to transform the nation into an "inclusive, wealthy and self-reliant industrialised upper-middle-income country by 2063." The first phase, Malawi Implementation Plan I (MIP-1) from 2021 to 2030, specifically targets achieving lower-middle-income status and meeting most UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
• The country faces extreme poverty and low human development; as of 2023, more than 70% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$2.15 per day. Malawi's Human Development Index (HDI) score of 0.51 placed it 172nd globally in 2023, ranking it below Zambia and Tanzania but above Mozambique.
• Malawi's economy is highly vulnerable to climatic shocks due to its heavy reliance on agriculture, which employs 64% of the labour force and contributes approximately 25% of GDP. The 2023/24 rainy season, affected by El Niño, caused prolonged dry spells that led President Lazarus Chakwera to declare a State of Disaster in 23 of 28 districts in March 2024, with 6 million people experiencing acute food insecurity between May and September 2024.
• Severe fiscal pressures have been intensified by the early 2025 freezing of USAID funds, which previously provided over US$350 million annually and accounted for more than 13% of the national budget. This loss, combined with other shocks, contributed to a 2024 current account deficit of 18.7% of GDP and the highest fiscal deficit in sub-Saharan Africa at 10.2% of GDP.

APA

van Rooyen, M. (2026). Malawi: Introduction. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/guide.pdf?geography=MW&topic=01-introduction

Chicago

van Rooyen, Michelle. Malawi: Introduction. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/guide.pdf?geography=MW&topic=01-introduction.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=van Rooyen |first1=Michelle |title=Malawi: Introduction |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=31 May 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/guide.pdf?geography=MW&topic=01-introduction |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vanrooyen2026malawi, author = {van Rooyen, Michelle}, title = {{Malawi: Introduction}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/geographic/guide.pdf?geography=MW&topic=01-introduction}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }