Malawi Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

deforestation; land degradation; water pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, industrial wastes; siltation of spawning grounds endangers fish populations; negative effects of climate change (extreme high temperatures, changing precipitation patterns)

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

sub-tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season (May to November)

Land use

agricultural land: 59.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 38.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 19.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 34% (2018 est.)

other: 6.8% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 18.3% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 4.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access:due to weather extremes and high food prices - the latest analysis indicates that about 3.8 million people (20 percent of the population) are estimated to have faced high levels of acute food insecurity between January and March 2023; this figure is more than double the number in the corresponding months of 2022; high food prices are the key reason for the deterioration in food insecurity, which, in the absence of a substantial increase in incomes, are severely constraining households’ economic access to food; production shortfalls in southern districts in 2022, areas that have the highest prevalence of food insecurity, are a further contributing factor; the impact of Cyclone Freddy (February-March 2023) on southern districts, including crop losses and destruction of infrastructure as well as high food prices, are expected to aggravate food insecurity conditions in 2023 (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

6.19% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 18.57 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 1.3 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 11.12 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,297,844 tons (2013 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Malawi (shared with Mozambique and Tanzania) - 22,490

salt water lake(s): Lake Chilwa - 1,040 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Zambezi (shared with Zambia [s], Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tanzania, and Mozambique [m]) - 2,740 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 140 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.17 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

17.28 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)