Rapid urbanisation places burden on already strained resources

Increased investment in Malawi's rural areas was needed to stem rapid urbanisation, a senior official told IRIN on Wednesday. According to the UN Centre of Human Settlement (UNCHS), Malawi is the fastest urbanising country in the world, and by 2015, about 44 percent of the 11 million population would be living in urban centres. Principal town planner for the southern city of Blantyre, John Chome, said the current growth trend would continue unless "drastic measures were implemented to improve rural livelihoods", to keep people profitably employed on the land. "The influx of people from the rural areas [to the urban centres] is directly linked to the increasingly harsh conditions many families are experiencing in the outlying areas of the country. It is no longer profitable for families to continue with agricultural work because the rewards are insufficient," Chome said. He cited the small size of farms and the lack of access to improved agricultural technology as the major impediments to increased yields. Most rural Malawians on average farm under one hectare of land, insufficent to meet household needs, and routinely suffer from seasonal hunger. An estimated 1.26 million people in the south and some central regions are expected to require food aid in 2004 as a result of a third consecutive poor harvest. "Many young people will continue to leave the rural areas in search of employment elsewhere unless the government increases its support to rural development. There should be a concerted effort to attract the young and educated back to the rural areas," said Chome. The impact of HIV/AIDS, inadequate social services and food insecurity contribute to rural vulnerability. But for most Malawians, migrating to the towns does not mean an end to poverty. According to UNCHS, 71 percent of Blantyre's residents live in unplanned settlements characterised by squalid living conditions. Poverty was pervasive throughout the city, with 65 percent of households living below the poverty line. Elliot Phiri, head of democracy and social statistics at the National Statistics Office, said migrants to the country's cities often found that living conditions in urban areas were "not much better than those they left". "The lack of employment and adequate housing leads to overcrowding, which comes with its own set of problems," he told IRIN. Phiri cited the lack of access to roads and health and education facilities as some of the challenges which local municipalities must address as a result of the increase in urbanisation. Three-quarters of urban Malawians reside in the major cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba.