The World Bank agreed to disburse $157 million to support the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP), which aims to increase sustainable landscape management in watersheds and improve rural livelihoods.

The financing is composed equally of a loan and a grant ($78.5 million for each) from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank said in a July 6 statement. The targeted projects aim to provide $40 million in livelihood support to more than 250,000 beneficiaries through community subsidy programs designed to encourage better land management. It also includes $45 million for the construction of water facilities, including 10 small multipurpose dams, 20 rainwater harvesting structures, and 10 small-scale irrigation systems to increase access to water for productive uses.  

“The project will enhance the capacity of watershed management institutions at all levels to sustain interventions beyond the project and build on the success of another World Bank-supported project, the Shire River Basin Management Project, which the Government of Malawi implemented from 2012 to 2019,” the statement said.

Overall, the government expects the project to generate 2,500 additional jobs in the construction sector.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou