Informal Settlements in Lilongwe, Malawi

Informal settlements in Malawi have been dictated by the country’s political history.  From the 1970’s to 1994, dictator Banda forcefully evicted squatters but also built so-called Service Plots for urban poor.  The Service Plots were planned areas with roads, community water points, and pit latrines.  After 1994, with the advent of multiparty democracy, informal settlements were allowed to grow as government turned a blind eye, in part to remain popular. The contemporary policy is to recognize and upgrade informal settlements by investing in infrastructure and improving security of tenure.

Lilongwe was planned in 1975 when the government capital moved to the area from Zomba after independence (it has the sprawled, overly planned feeling of Canberra, Australia).  In the beginning, the government housing authority was actively planning and creating Service Plots, but ceased completely in the 1980’s.  Today, about two thirds of Lilongwe citizens reside in informal settlements.  The Malawi government, with a national budget comprised of 40-60% foreign aid, has little money to spend on thorough urban upgrading.

Mtandile informal settlement bicycle repair, streets of the informal settlement, primary school from the government

The informal settlements of Lilongwe are benign compared to those of Nairobi.  As population increases, the settlements sprawl unabated into the open fields surrounding the city.  While residents have no formal tenure security, there is no risk of government eradication.

There is the beginning of a public-private partnership for waste collection. A group of women is working to collect and sort waste. Organic waste is sold to a company. Bottles and plastics will also be separated and sold.

Land ownership is managed through the traditional chief who keeps his own land register.  This has many advantages for residents: children keep land rights after parental death, chiefs control the cemetery and burial rights, and chiefs settle boundary disputes.  In Malawi, the local chief has more authority than the government, so much so that the UN uses the chiefs to implement new programs, such as waste collection, rather than the government.

Informal Settlements in Blantyre, Malawi

Blantyre City Assembly’s Planning Department was kind enough to grant us an interview and settlement tour on very short notice.  The most striking aspect of informal settlements in Malawi is recognition by the current government and progressive efforts to upgrade the settlements.

Squatters on government land have an opportunity to gain ownership under a lease agreement and title deed. The length of the lease depends upon the quality of the structure, varying from 33, 66 or 99 years, as judged by an inspector. The goal is to gain land tenure security so that citizens can use the value to get loans.

Upgrading pilot project, Mbayani settlement viewed from nearby hill, upgraded main road

The government wants to improve infrastructure, provide access roads, water, electricity, hospitals, schools, waste management, and sewers within informal settlements.  In Malawi’s new multi-party democracy, an inclusive policy for informal settlement dwellers may be a political move to remain popular with all levels of society.  The first slum upgrading project in Blantyre is in Mbayani, the oldest settlement from around 1954. In 2008 a paved access road was built into the area and up the hill to a new government school.

urban agriculture on every possible piece of land

this gentleman has a house with a view over the settlement and community pit latrines in his backyard

Brian from the City Assembly leads Eline through the settlement, the upgraded road is the main artery for life in the settlement

To learn more, seek the Situation Analysis of Informal Settlements. Blantyre City Assembly. Prepared under ‘Cities without slums initiative’ (UN Habitat). 2005. Survey analysis by CCODE consultants.