Malawi

Malawi is one of the world’s 20 poorest countries. About 74 per cent of the population still lives below the income poverty line of US$1.25 a day and 90 per cent below the US$2 a day threshold. Only 12 per cent of households have access to credit.

The average Malawian can expect to live just 40 years due to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition. 15 million Malawians live in a country a little smaller than England

Most Malawians rely on subsistence farming, but often fail to have food security as the country is prone to natural disasters of both extremes – from drought to heavy rainfalls. Poor rural people in Malawi are unable to diversify out of agriculture and tend to remain underemployed for part of the year. More than a third of rural households earn their livelihood only from farming or fishing.

Our focus area is 30km NW from the capital, Lilongwe. We started here because we saw they had a desperate need with no-one to help them. This primary area we support is about 400 km² with a population of 45,000. We have nearly 3000 orphans on our beneficiary list and 300 people on our disability register.