Start Date: 2006-01-01

Completion Date: 2006-12-31

Technology Used:

The communities in Chikwawa will be presented with a menu of technology options for both the shallow wells and the latrines. The menu will consist of the following:
Latrines: EcoSan, SanPlat slabs, and VIP.
Shallow wells: Mark V, Rope Pump and Malda.

Phases:

These six communities will be reached in one phase.

Community Organization:

The community members are the ones who demanded the project from the District Assembly and Water For People--Malawi. They have been involved in the planning process from the very beginning. As such, they know their needs and are committed to seeing them through. They are ready to form committees for the management of the project and are willing to contribute to the project in cash and in-kind at the project inception and throughout the life of the project. The project will be located in a public area of the community and owned by all of the contributing members.

Government Interaction:

Ancillary activities:

Hygiene improvement, capacity building, jobs and skill enhancement are all integral pieces of this program.
• Hygiene improvement will consist of targeting three key behaviors: handwashing at critical times with proper technique, sanitary disposal of feces, and protection of drinking water aand food from fecal contamination.
• Capacity building is another primary focus of all Water For People programs. This will be done by partnering directly with the Chikwawa District Assembly, the local private sector and local NGOs over time to enhance their skills, and thereby strengthen the District capacity as a whole to effectively contribute to development work and increase overall project sustainability.
• This project includes provision for training and hiring local private sector sanitation promoters and masons thus contributing to the overall economic development of the District.

Other Issues:

Chikwawa is located 50 km (30 miles) south of Blantyre, the commercial capital of Malawi. According to the 1998 Population and Housing Census, Chikwawa District has a total population of 356,682 people, which is about 3.4% of the national population. Of the 74.1% of the population in Chikwawa that are economically active, the majority of them are subsistence farmers. Prone to flooding as well as drought, Chikwawa District is among the worst affected areas by famine. Floods in Chikwawa have destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of farming families by wiping out much-needed maize crops and livestock. The crocodile-infested Shire River runs through the District posing serious danger for women as they collect water. As mentioned above, the area has the lowest water and sanitation coverage rates in the entire Southern Region of Malawi.

To address these challenges, the 2007-2011 Water For People—Malawi Country Strategy proposes the following goals for the first year of the Country Strategy (2007) with regard to the Chikwawa Program:
• Develop a long-term Memorandum of Understanding with the Chikwawa District Assembly that leads to increased water and sanitation coverage in the District and an increase in the functionality of systems in the District over time.
• Develop a long-term Memorandum of Understanding with a local NGO and a local private sector company that clarifies roles and responsibilities of all parties and indicates how Water For People—Malawi will enhance their capacity to support sustainable community-based water supply and sanitation.
• Provision of water services for 4,340 people in line with government policy.
• Increased coverage of improved sanitation for 8,860 people in line with government policy.
• Rehabilitation of failed water systems.
• Initiate steps to address the spare parts gaps in Chikwawa and have a plan of action for increasing access to spares in the District by the end of the year.