Malawi: Six in 10 Say Malawi On Wrong Track As Hunger, Cash Shortages Bite, Afrobarometer Survey Finds

What the report says

A new Afrobarometer survey released in Lilongwe has found that many Malawians remain deeply concerned about the country’s direction and their daily living conditions. According to the report carried by Nyasa Times and distributed by AllAfrica, 60% of respondents said Malawi is moving in the wrong direction, even though optimism has improved compared with 2024.

The survey points to widespread economic distress. It found that 58% of respondents rated the economy as fairly bad or very bad, while 59% said conditions have worsened over the past five years. Large shares of households reported missing cash income, lacking enough food, and facing shortages of medicines, clean water and cooking fuel. Many people said they relied on loans from relatives or friends to get by.

At the same time, the findings suggest some improvement in public confidence in the government’s economic management. More than half of respondents approved of how the administration is handling the economy, business conditions and inflation. However, job creation was the weakest-rated area, with fewer than four in 10 saying the government is doing well on employment.

The survey also showed resistance to policies that could increase pressure on households, including higher fuel prices and devaluation of the kwacha. More broadly, the results highlight the gap between rising trust in economic stewardship and the lived reality of food insecurity and cash shortages for many Malawians.