Preamble
Poverty in Malawi is widespread, severe and deepening, with a per capita
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around US$205 and with 65% of the population
living below the poverty line. About 85% of the population live in rural
areas and depend almost entirely on subsistence agriculture, with an average
income per household per year of less than US$100. Furthermore, the
performance of the Malawian economy in recent years has been weak and
characterised by low or negative GDP growth rates, a large budget deficit,
exchange rate volatility and high inflation and interest rates which have
all impacted negatively on the poor. Constraints on the productivity of land
include rapid environmental degradation and limited access. Most farmers
therefore focus on daily subsistence, giving minimal consideration to land
degradation, soil fertility and the adoption of new land husbandry
practices. Constraints on labour include generally low levels of education,
poor health status complicated by the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS,
limited off-farm employment, rapid population growth, and gender
inequalities.
The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) is GoM's overarching
statement on development strategy and forms the basis for all Government
activities. The Decentralisation Policy, approved in 1996, is a key feature
in the reduction of poverty and it focuses on the empowerment of the poor,
through their participation in decision-making and the devolution of public
services to District Assemblies (DAs). This is a rather challenging policy
considering the capacity of District Assemblies (DAs); limited means
available to enable rural communities earn income, the poor performance of
the economy as a whole and the agriculture sector in particular. Rural roads
and bridges infrastructure is generally poorly developed and in many
instances impassable during the rainy season, making access to markets and
socio-economic services in general difficult.
The Income Generating Public Works Programme (IGPWP)
 The Income Generating Public Works Programme (IGPWP) is one of the
initiatives designed to respond to the income-generation needs of the rural
poor through a variety of multi-sectoral and cross-cutting initiatives.
These initiatives address needs such as access (infrastructure),
environmental protection (forestry), food security (irrigation);
capacity-building (institutional and human resource development) and
enterprise (using road maintenance wages and Village Forestry and Irrigation
Club payments) which are not readily covered within the scope of one given
sector. Overall, interventions under the programme will as reflected in the
Malawi-European Community Country Strategy Paper and National Indicative
Programme (2001-7) contribute to poverty reduction in the focal sectors of
agriculture and transport.
 In responding to the issues highlighted, IGPWP accords rural communities the
opportunity to improve livelihoods through the creation of income earning
opportunities, being more food secure, having improved access to services
and learning how to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.
Specific attention is paid to participation and the empowerment of the rural
communities by working with them in determining how the resources available
under the programme can be used to meet their needs. The programme is
developing and will implement capacity enhancement plans for the District
Assemblies (DAs), and existing structures below the assemblies, in order to
ensure meaningful participation and empowerment.
Overall Objective of the Programme
The overall objective of the IGPWP is to contribute to the reduction of
poverty amongst the rural and peri-urban poor in line with the Malawi Growth
and Development Strategy (MGDS).
Purpose of the Programme
 The purpose of the IGPWP is to enhance the socio-economic situation of
targeted rural and peri-urban communities, through improving access,
infrastructure, income and production. The programme will address the
following specific problems:- Rural areas have poor road
infrastructure and roads are often impassable during the rainy season,
limiting access to social services and markets in both rural and urban
areas
- Stagnation of the rural economy due to limited availability of
capital
- Deforestation and soil fertility decline as a result of wanton
cutting down of trees and lack of money to purchase inorganic fertilizers
-
Communities especially women spend a lot of time collecting fuel wood and
as a result production in other areas of their livelihoods declines
- 60%
of households experience income/food shortages
- Smallholder farmers
continue to rely exclusively on rain-fed agriculture with only 14% of
productive land under irrigation
- The HIV and AIDS (HIV prevalence of
adults (15-49 year olds) is estimated at 15%) is impacting negatively upon
all sectors of the Malawian society and in particular the poor and
malnourished. The pandemic has put an enormous strain on public service
delivery
- Inadequate capacity of District level authorities to plan,
implement and manage development initiatives
Programme Implementation
IGPWP is using lessons learnt from the GoM/EU PWP and the Multi Annual Food
Security Programme (MAFSP) to implement a labour intensive programme with
the aim of promoting income generating activities as well as productive
activities for the rural and peri-urban poor, assisting them to promote
sustainable livelihoods. It is recognised that resources available under
IGPWP cannot meet all the development needs of the rural poor. The
activities under the programme are maximising on synergies with projects,
institutions and initiatives through coordination, cooperation and linkages.
In this regard, IGPWP links into existing coordination forums and where
necessary, establishes new forums; standardises documents and procedures
(for example on road maintenance), harmonises approaches and promotes
adherence to designs and set standards. Furthermore, specific links to HIV
and AIDS initiatives are made to enable beneficiaries of the IGPWP have
direct access to resources and services available under those initiatives.
The IGPWP is being implemented in two phases (first phase of three years and
second phase of two years) over a period of five years during which the
involvement of the Districts Assemblies and contribution of the GoM will be
scaled up. Programme implementation commenced on 01 August 2005.
Implementation of the IGPWP interventions will be continued by the DAs once
they have the appropriate capacity to do so. DA capacity building is one of
the core activities during phase I. In the second phase the DAs will be
enabled, amongst others, to manage road maintenance funds including the part
for public finance (as per precondition of the 2nd phase).
Programme Implementation Area
 The
beneficiary District Assemblies (DAs) covered under the programme were
selected based on the poverty ranking as partly determined by the Malawi
Fiscal Decentralisation Model (MFDM), which gives base poverty data for the
country per District Assembly.
The following are the beneficiary assemblies: Blantyre, Chikwawa, Dedza,
Dowa, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, M'mbelwa, Mulanje,
Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Thyolo and Zomba.
Programme Financial Resources
The programme is funded from the 9th EDF budget to a total value of Euro 25
million.
Expected
Results
Listed below are the expected results of the IGPWP: - Rural roads and small bridges are rehabilitated and upgraded
- Rural roads are maintained
- Productive local forestry activities comprising fuel wood, timber and fruit
tree production are developed
- Productive local agricultural activities are developed through improved
inputs and irrigation
- Project management is adequately addressing cross-cutting issues as listed
below:
-
HIV and AIDS awareness is promoted
-
Role of women and youth in household income generation and
decision-making is increased
-
Linkages are facilitated to other socio-economic initiatives for the
rural poor
-
Environmental management
-
Programme visibility is enhanced
- Implementation capacity of District Assemblies is
enhanced
The IGPWP is ensuring that all activities funded by the European Union (EU)
are visibly acknowledged through, among other activities, briefings,
newsletters, press conferences, presentations, erection of sign posts in
strategic positions and, production of commemorative plaques. Contact us for
details of the visibility strategy.
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