This study was commissioned by the Malawi Economic Justice Network to establish the impact
of the current global economic crisis on the Malawi economy with particular focus on its
implications on the poor and vulnerable groups and propose ways of mitigating the impacts.
The study recognizes that the financial crisis which is the focus of this analysis was preceded by
the food crisis characterized by high food prices which were beneficial to net producers while
impoverishing consumers. It comes against the background of the fact that while several
international analyses of the causes, impact and policy responses have been undertaken that
shed light on such issues, there is little or no system research information on the Malawi
economy particularly relating to the rural households.
The study was conducted in fifteen villages from five districts of Chitipa in the North, Salima and
Mchinji in the Centre and Phalombe and Mangochi in the South. In each village, thirty
households were sampled for household interviews thus totaling four hundred and fifty
households. In order to triangulate the results of the household interviews, interviews were
held with the small scale traders in the nearby trading centre of each village and focused groups
of men and women separately