Perspectives and Practices on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene from a Fishing Community along Lake Malombe, Southern Malawi

Limbani R. Kalumbi, Chisomo Thaulo, Eleanor E. MacPherson and Tracy Morse
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Limbani R. Kalumbi: Department of Environmental Health, University of Malawi—The Polytechnic, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 31225, Malawi
Chisomo Thaulo: Department of Environmental Health, University of Malawi—The Polytechnic, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 31225, Malawi
Eleanor E. MacPherson: Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, College of Medicine, P.O. Box 30096, Chichiri, Blantyre 31225, Malawi
Tracy Morse: Centre for Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), University of Malawi—The Polytechnic, Private Bag 303, Chichiri, Blantyre 31225, Malawi

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: People living in fishing communities have a high burden of preventable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) related diseases but have often been neglected in research and policy. We explored practices and perspectives on WASH among fishing villages around Lake Malombe, Malawi. We employed a mixed methods design, and data were initially collected through participant observations (five weeks), followed by a second phase of qualitative interviews ( n = 16), focus group discussions ( n = 7), and quantitative surveys ( n = 242). We observed that safe water sources were scarce; latrines were basic; and handwashing facilities were limited. Seventy-one percent ( n = 174) of households collected water from unsafe sources (open wells and the lake). Eighty-six percent ( n = 207) of households had basic short-term latrines. Twenty-four percent ( n = 59) of households had handwashing facilities with soap. Qualitative data supported these observations and identified additional factors which compounded poor WASH practices including, a high transient population associated with the fishing trade, poor infrastructure design and construction which lacked consideration of the environmental factors, context and social and cultural norms. As such, fishing communities are underserved and marginalised with constrained access to WASH services, which must be addressed through behaviour-centered and context appropriate solutions.

Keywords: fishing community; WASH; Malawi; marginalised population (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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