Voice of Livingstonia radio

After 50 years of self rule, a recent World Bank report indicates Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world. It is far much poorer than several African countries that have been ravaged by war including neighbouring Mozambique. Something might be wrong and must be addressed.

As a Journalist, my core responsibilities are threefold; to inform, educate and entertain. Through my item of work under the title; Cost of poor sanitation – case of under five children in Malawi, an attempt is made to uncover and inform on the impact of poor sanitation and can stunt Malawi ’s development agenda in various areas including education.

Findings as exposed in the report demonstrate that stunting is not only a direct result of poor nutrition. It also has a bearing to poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene. Such impairs one ’s academic performance thereby leading to Malawi bleeding a nation of under achievers. Meanwhile, statistics indicate half of the eight thousand people that die due to diarrhoea related illnesses every year in Malawi as a result of poor sanitation are children under the age of five who are the hope for Malawi ’s future. Not only that, findings also indicate that Malawi loses over 8 billion kwacha every year as a result of poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene.

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