Malawi

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has maintained an office in Lilongwe since 1998 and has been working in Malawi for more than 35 years.

Malawi is one of the world’s poorest and least-developed countries. 70 per cent of the people live on the equivalent of less than two euros a day. At the same time, with about 20 million inhabitants, the population is growing rapidly. This poses major problems for the country in guaranteeing food security, and children are often affected by malnutrition. Another challenge lies in providing the necessary social services, particularly in health. Moreover, many social services do not meet the needs of the ultra-poor. In addition, the entire region often faces water shortages. Other constraints on development in Malawi include a high reliance on rain-fed agriculture and the need for reform in the financial system. 

Malawian-German cooperation focuses on: 

• Food security and nutrition
• Health, social protection and population development
• Good financial governance

To increase incomes and employment opportunities, projects support agri-businesses to increase productivity and thereby create higher incomes of Malawian smallholders. These measures will also improve food security in the country. Moreover, GIZ is working with national and international partners to increase the availability of healthy food and promote habits that ensure a healthy diet, particularly among children and women. 

In the health system, projects support the Ministry of Health with implementing reforms to achieve universal health coverage. A particular focus lies on improving the quality of services in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women, young people and persons living with disabilities through enhancing structures for continuous professional development (CPD) and performance management. Moreover, GIZ supports the performance of the social protection system and its institutions where an electronic registration system is being introduced. This will allow efficient and reliable identification of beneficiaries and improve access to complementary social assistance services for the ultra-poor.

Improving the availability of clean drinking water requires efforts across the entire region, with projects supporting the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in implementing measures for transboundary water management.

Projects also work to make public financial institutions more accountable, transparent, and efficient, offering support in budget planning, financial forecasting, and oversight. Moreover, small and medium-sized companies receive support through advisory and financial services as well as technology transfer to improve the economic development in Malawi.