Improving livelihoods through better access to WASH

PMI identified several priority markets to implement targeted initiatives on the ground. Some communities in Malawi and Mozambique lack the appropriate infrastructure that ensures basic WASH services. This leaves local residents-especially children under the age of five-more prone to waterborne illnesses. In addition, many hours a day are spent walking to fetch water-hours that could be otherwise spent earning money or-in the case of children-studying at school.

With this in mind, PMI launched a WASH program in Malawi alongside its third-party suppliers in 2019. During the initial pilot, various systems were tested, such as solar-powered boreholes, household water-filtration systems, and rainwater harvesting. These helped assess which approach and technology worked best. In 2019, in Malawi, we built 43 boreholes and 20 rainwater harvesting systems and distributed 70 household filtration systems.

We have also started a WASH program in Mozambique, where we built 60 hand-pump boreholes. Overall, these initiatives have reached and positively impacted more than 3,500 farmers and 81,000 community members.