World Bank2012-06-132012-06-132007-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7909This study builds a profile of the status of poverty and vulnerability in Malawi. Malawi is a small land-locked country, with one of the highest population densities in Sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the lowest per capita income levels in the world. Almost 90 percent of the population lives in rural areas, and is mostly engaged in smallholder, rain-fed agriculture. Most people are therefore highly vulnerable to annual rainfall volatility. The majority of households cultivate very small landholdings, largely for subsistence. As a result, poverty is pervasive and not merely the situation of the lowest economic groups. Therefore, while this report focuses on the least-well-off sections of the population, the analysis provides valuable information to accelerate wealth creation and economic growth for the whole of Malawi. This synthesis report presents the main findings and policy recommendations stemming from the analysis. Due to the length and detail of this study, the 'full report' presenting the detailed analysis and results underpinning these policy recommendations is available as a separate publication. This report highlights some of the key characteristics and causes of poverty in Malawi, and focuses on the main sources of risk affecting households, namely food insecurity and health shocks. Based on these findings, the report goes on to develop a set of policy recommendations for widely shared growth and poverty reduction, and for enabling the most vulnerable to make a living. Finally, the report also provides recommendations for strengthening the monitoring and evaluation systems of poverty reduction strategies, so that policy makers and Malawian society can better track the effectiveness of the policies pursued, and inform future policy choices.CC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE POVERTYABSOLUTE POVERTY LINESACCESS TO SERVICESBABYBASIC NEEDSCALORIC REQUIREMENTSCALORIES PER DAYCDCHANGES IN POVERTYCHILD LABORCHILD MORTALITYCONSUMER DURABLECONSUMER DURABLESCONSUMER GOODSCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONSUMPTION AGGREGATECONSUMPTION BASKETCONSUMPTION EXPENDITURECONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESCONSUMPTION INFORMATIONCONSUMPTION MEASURESDATA SETSDETERMINANTS OF POVERTYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDIETARY DIVERSITYDIMENSIONS OF POVERTYDISEASESDRINKING WATERDROUGHTDRUGSDUMMY VARIABLESDURABLEDURABLE GOODDURABLE GOODSECONOMIC PROGRESSECONOMIC STATUSEMPOWERMENT OF WOMENENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYEQUIPMENTEQUIVALENCE SCALEEQUIVALENCE SCALESEXCHANGE RATESEXPENDITURE DATAEXPENDITURE INFORMATIONEXPENSIVE CALORIESEXTREME POVERTYFARMERSFIGHTING POVERTYFINANCIAL ASSETSFIREWOODFOOD COMPONENTFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD EXPENDITUREFOOD EXPENDITURESFOOD ITEMSFOOD POLICYFOOD POVERTYFOOD POVERTY LINEFOOD POVERTY LINESFOOD PRICESGENDER EQUALITYGENDER INEQUITIESGLOBAL PARTNERSHIPHEALTH CAREHEALTH EXPENDITURESHIVHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSHOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHICSHOUSEHOLD EXPENDITUREHOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURESHOUSEHOLD HEADHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD LIVING STANDARDSHOUSEHOLD MEMBERSHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSINGHUMAN BEINGSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN DEVELOPMENTSHUMAN RIGHTSILLNESSILLNESSESINCIDENCE ANALYSISINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOMEINCOME GENERATIONINCOME POVERTYINEQUALITYINFANTINFLATIONINFLATION RATESINSURANCEINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTINGKIDSLABOR MARKETLAND HOLDINGSLEVELS OF CONSUMPTIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIVING STANDARDS INDICATORSLIVING STANDARDS MEASUREMENTLOCAL CURRENCYMALARIAMALNUTRITIONMATERNAL HEALTHMEDICAL FACILITYMILLENNIUM DECLARATIONMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSMOSQUITO NETNATIONAL LEVELNATIONAL POVERTYNATIONAL POVERTY RATENON-FOOD COMPONENTNON-FOOD CONSUMPTIONNON-FOOD EXPENDITURENON-FOOD ITEMSNONFOOD ITEMSNUMBER OF ADULTSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDSNUMBER OF PEOPLENUTRITIONAL STATUSORPHANSPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOORPOPULATION CENSUSPOPULATION DENSITYPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY INDICATORPOVERTY INDICATORSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MAPPOVERTY MAPSPOVERTY MEASUREPOVERTY MEASUREMENTPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY PROFILEPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGYPOVERTY STATUSPRICE INFORMATIONPROGRESSPUBLIC GOODSPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYQUALITY CONTROLRADIORECREATIONRENT PAYMENTRESERVERESERVESRESPECTRURALRURAL POVERTYRURAL POVERTY LINESCHOOL ATTENDANCESEXSMALLHOLDER FARMERSSOCIAL DIMENSIONSSPOUSESPOUSESSTANDARD ERRORSSUBSISTENCETARGETINGTELEVISIONTEMPORAL PRICE INDICESTERTIARY EDUCATIONTOTAL POVERTYTOTAL POVERTY LINETRADINGTRADITIONAL HEALERULTRA POORUNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATIONURBAN AREASURBAN CENTERURBAN CENTREURBAN POVERTYVEGETABLESVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTWELFARE INDICATORWELFARE INDICATORSWELFARE MEASUREWELFARE MONITORINGWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONWorld Bank10.1596/7909