World Bank approves $157m to protect Malawi’s watersheds

The World Bank has approved financing of $157 million for the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project. The package includes a $78.5 million credit and $78.5 million grant from the International Development Association.

The project will help to increase the adoption of sustainable landscape management practices in priority watersheds and improve watershed services and rural livelihoods as Malawi’s water resources are under threat from severe land degradation and loss of forest cover.

Critical watersheds are becoming degraded, leading to reduced water availability, deteriorating water quality, increased vulnerability to droughts and floods, reduced energy security, and reduced agricultural productivity. 

Within the first three years, the project will provide $40 million in livelihood support to over a quarter million beneficiaries through various community grant schemes designed to encourage better land stewardship. In additional to the grants, the project makes available $45 million worth of water infrastructure, including 10 small multipurpose dams, 20 rainwater harvesting structures and ten small-scale irrigation schemes to increase access to water for productive use.