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Malawi

Contacts

Alan Brooks

country director
abrooks@pactworld.org

Peter Hopkins

program manager
phopkins@pactworld.org

For decades, Pact has been internationally regarded for its innovative capacity development approaches that help communities gain self-reliance and resilience. Pact’s work in Malawi is based on that tradition.

Pact implements the Restoring Fisheries for Sustainable Livelihoods in Lake Malawi program, or REFRESH. The effort is conserving the freshwater biodiversity of Lake Malawi by restoring natural fisheries productivity and ensuring that aquatic habitats are healthy and well-managed, that endemic fish populations are self-sustaining, and that Lake Malawi fisheries are managed sustainably by 2024.

REFRESH builds on communities' successes under Pact's FISH project, which built social, ecological and economic resilience to climate change and significantly improved biodiversity conservation through sustainable fisheries co-management. The project's Pact-led consortium enabled communities and local government to protect four of Malawi’s main lakes, which contribute significantly to the health of the country and its people. 

Stories and Highlights

After an HIV peer mentor changes his life, a fisherman in Malawi pays it forward

April 16, 2019
By Maggie Makawa and Mercy Phiri Fishermen are more likely to respond positively to information when it comes from their peers. This is why the Fisheries Integration of Societies and Habitats project...
A BVC member in Mangochi presents a petition to the chair of the PCAIWD committee, Chidanti Malunga.

Parliamentary committee supports Malawi's fisheries sector

March 21, 2019
By Mercy Phiri The main objectives of the USAID-funded Fisheries Integration of Societies and Habitats project, or FISH, are to increase resiliency to climate change and improve biodiversity...

A fish processor in Malawi protects the environment, one stove at a time

March 18, 2019
By Goodwell Thunga Necessity breeds invention, as the saying goes. This was exactly the case for Vincent Sande, a soft-spoken man who owns a self-built fish processing facility beneath a makeshift...

The FISH project in Malawi

January 2, 2019
The Fisheries Integration of Society and Habitats (FISH) project is increasing social, ecological and economic resilience to climate change and improving biodiversity conservation through sustainable...

MBC Documentary: The FISH project in Malawi

December 12, 2018
This documentary by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation explores Pact's FISH project, which is funded by USAID. FISH -- The Fisheries Integration of Society and Habitats project -- is increasing...

Partnering to End HIV in Malawi

November 11, 2018
USAID and PEPFAR's approach to pursuing HIV epidemic control is transforming lives and supporting the development of healthy, self-reliant Malawian people.

In historic milestone, Malawi fishing communities take true ownership over local natural resource management

September 3, 2018
The notion of participatory fisheries management isn’t new in Malawi. It was first introduced 25 years ago as a means to address collapsing fish species populations in the country’s lakes, which have...

To stop the spread of HIV in Malawi, bringing services to fishermen is critical

July 26, 2018
By Mercy Phiri Layton Nyama lives in Makawa, a village in Mangochi along the southwest arm of Lake Malawi. His only source of income is fishing. Last year, though, Layton began having trouble doing...

At a fish 'maternity ward' in Malawi, one man inspires an entire community

July 25, 2018
By Issa Mwanjabe and Mercy Phiri Every morning, 27-year-old Amini Mustafa goes to a swamp near his house, throwing in maize brans and chicken dung. This swamp, which looks deserted because of the old...

Using science to improve fishing

July 6, 2018
The Fisheries Integration of Society and Habitats project, or FISH, is a 5-year, USAID-funded project focused on biodiversity conversation and climate change adaptation in four major lake bodies in...