World Bank2012-06-082012-06-082007-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7557This 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.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICESACCESS TO IRRIGATIONACCESS TO MARKETSACCESS TO SERVICESADULT POPULATIONAGRICULTURAL ADVICEAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIESAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL INPUTSAGRICULTURAL LANDAGRICULTURAL PRODUCEAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTURAL SERVICESAGRICULTURAL SHOCKSBASIC EDUCATIONBEHAVIOR CHANGECALORIC INTAKECALORIE INTAKECASH CROPCASH CROPSCASH TRANSFERSCHILD CARECHILD MORTALITYCHILD WELFARECHILDBIRTHCHRONIC ILLNESSCHRONIC MALNUTRITIONCHRONIC POVERTYCHRONICALLY POORCLEAN DRINKING WATERCOMMUNITY HEALTHCONDOMCONDOM USECONDOMSCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCROP DIVERSIFICATIONCROP PRODUCTIONCROP YIELDSCYCLE OF POVERTYDIETDROUGHTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESEDUCATION PROGRAMSEMERGENCIESEMPOWERING WOMENEPIDEMICEXTENDED FAMILYEXTREME POVERTYFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY PLANNINGFAMINEFARM EMPLOYMENTFARM INCOMEFARMERSFEEDING PROGRAMSFEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDSFOOD AIDFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CROPSFOOD EXPENDITUREFOOD INSECURITYFOOD MARKETSFOOD NEEDSFOOD POVERTYFOOD POVERTY LINEFOOD PRICESFOOD SECURITYFOOD STAPLESFORMAL EDUCATIONGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER GAPGENDER GAPSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHEALTH SERVICESHIGH INEQUALITYHIGHER INCIDENCE OF POVERTYHIVHOUSEHOLD CHORESHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD HEADHOUSEHOLD HEAD AGEHOUSEHOLD HEADSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEXILLNESSESIMMUNIZATIONIMPACT OF SHOCKSIMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOMEINCOME GROWTHINCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIESINEQUALITYINEQUITIESINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINSURANCEIRRIGATIONLABOR SHORTAGESLABOR SUPPLYLACK OF EDUCATIONLANDHOLDINGSLANDLESS HOUSEHOLDSLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF CHILD MORTALITYLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIFE EXPECTANCYLIVESTOCK OWNERSHIPLIVING CONDITIONSMALNOURISHED CHILDRENMALNUTRITIONMALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDRENMATERNAL MORTALITYMATERNAL MORTALITY RATESMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSMINISTRY OF HEALTHMOTHERNATIONAL AIDSNATIONAL AIDS COMMISSIONNATIONAL LEVELNATURAL DISASTERSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF PEOPLENUTRITIONNUTRITIONAL STATUSOLDER PEOPLEORPHANSPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPERSISTENT POVERTYPESTICIDESPOLICY MAKERSPOORPOOR CHILDRENPOOR COMMUNITIESPOOR COUNTRIESPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR SMALLHOLDERSPOPULATION CENSUSPOPULATION DISTRIBUTIONPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY PROFILEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCINGPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGYPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPERPOVERTY STATUSPREGNANT WOMENPRICE STABILIZATIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOLINGPROGRESSPROMOTING GENDER EQUALITYPUBLIC SPENDINGPUBLIC WORKSQUALITY OF EDUCATIONREMITTANCESREMITTANCES FROM MIGRANTSREMOTE AREASRESPECTRISK FACTORSRISK MANAGEMENTRURALRURAL AREARURAL AREASRURAL COMMUNITIESRURAL DWELLERSRURAL FINANCERURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL POPULATIONRURAL POPULATIONSRURAL POVERTYRURAL REGIONSRURAL ROADSSAFETY NETSAFETY NETSSANITATIONSAVINGSSCARCE RESOURCESSCHOOL STUDENTSSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLSSKILLED STAFFSMALL FARMERSSMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURESMALLHOLDER FARMERSSOCIAL ACTIONSOCIAL IMPACTSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL RESEARCHSPECIESSUBSISTENCE FARMERSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTARGETINGTERTIARY EDUCATIONTRANSPORTATIONURBAN AREASURBAN COMMUNITIESURBAN POPULATIONURBAN POVERTYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTWATER MANAGEMENTWOMANYOUNG CHILDRENWorld Bank10.1596/7557