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More women turn to sand mining after drought, floods

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Work is back-breaking and pay meagre

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Sand mining contributes to land degradation

By Charles Pensulo

SALIMA/CHIKWAWA, Malawi, March 21 (Thomson Reuters

Foundation) - I t's only 9 a.m. and Zainunda Wilson is already

tired from shovelling sand since daybreak into a five-tonne

truck on the shores of Lake Malawi.

The 37-year-old sand miner has no time to admire her

surroundings - a tourist hot spot centred on the vast body of

water known as the Lake of Stars for the brilliance of its

nighttime reflections.

What Wilson does notice is that its shores are receding, and

she thinks she may be partly to blame. But she says she has no

other option.

"We believe that (sand mining) is contributing to erosion

because when we remove the sand, the water comes and fills up

the space," she said.

"I joined sand mining because I was unemployed and

stranded," Wilson said. "When we sell (sand), we buy food and

support the household. We also buy school materials for the

children."

Sand mining around rivers and lakes is broadly illegal in

Malawi, and rivers and the Lake Malawi basin are protected from

adverse human activities by law.

Councils can also enact bylaws to prohibit sand mining in

other areas, but unregulated sand mining thrives.

On this morning, dozens of women and men were shovelling

sand into trucks across the Maganga settlement on the lake's

shore. At the Chingombe Stream, deep gullies were visible along

its banks.

Sand mining is contributing heavily to environmental

degradation, leaving communities even more vulnerable to the

effects of climate change, including the increasingly frequent

droughts, cyclones and floods.

Previously dominated by men, the back-breaking work has

drawn more women and children trying to make ends meet after a

devastating drought desiccated crops and pushed millions of

people into hunger across southern Africa.

The drought has been fuelled by El Niño, a climate

phenomenon that can exacerbate drought or storms -- weather

conditions made more likely by climate change.

Now Malawi faces La Niña weather phenomenon, which involves

the cooling of ocean surface temperatures and could bring

increased rainfall, flooding, soil erosion and landslides.

Tsork Kumcheza, an environmental officer at the Malawi

Environment Protection Authority, which monitors illegal sand

mining, said the number of people mining sand in prohibited

areas is rising because of high demand and economic need.

"There are some risks because it is not safe for the

women conducting those activities," she said, noting the

physical dangers the miners face carrying heavy, wet sand and

adding that the sand mining also pollutes surrounding water.

"It's an issue that needs to be taken care of," she said.

NO CHOICE

Sand is the second-most used resource on earth, after water,

according to the U.N. Environment Programme. It is used in

cement and concrete, glass and tarmac.

The business is booming in Malawi as demand from

construction firms soars due to a growing population and the

expansion of cities.

But the chief of the traditional authority in Maganga and

hotel owners say the practice is eroding the natural beach and

driving away tourists.

For miners like Wilson, the earnings are meagre.

On a typical day, she will move two to four tonnes of sand.

Filling a seven-tonne truck will fetch 30,000 Malawian kwacha,

about $17, while filling a two-tonne truck nets 7,000 kwacha, or

barely $4.

"This is a really tough job and when I go home, the joints

feel like they have dislocated because the pain is just severe,"

Wilson said.

EXACERBATING PROBLEMS

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and

formal sector employment accounts for only 11% of total

employment, according to 2022 ministry of labour figures.

Double-digit inflation sparked protests in February in the

capital city of Lilongwe, where street vendors said the rising

prices were putting them out of business.

While for some Malawians, sand mining offers an immediate

lifeline, the longer-term, broader problem is land degradation,

said Charles Bakolo, voluntary national coordinator for the

Malawi Creation Care Network, which campaigns for stronger

environmental policies.

Agricultural practices, particularly in areas of extensive

land clearing, are also contributing to severe soil erosion and

siltation of the water, he said.

"The Shire River, which is crucial for our national

hydropower and agriculture, is becoming increasingly blocked

with sediment," he said.

"These environmental changes are not just affecting our

natural landscape but are directly threatening the livelihoods

of millions of Malawians who depend on agriculture and water

resources."

Policies are needed to protect the environment and support

sustainable development, such as better land management

practices and forest protection, he said.

"If we do not act now, Malawi risks facing more severe

environmental disasters, increased food insecurity and long-term

economic challenges," Bakolo said.

But for Mercy Richard, a 32-year-old mother of three

children, feeding her family is her most pressing concern after

floods washed away her maize crops in Chikwawa in southern

Malawi.

She mines sand at the Mwamphanzi River, even though she

knows this makes the flooding worse.

"We don't have any other choice. Like today, I left early in

the morning leaving children without even porridge," she said.

"But up to now I haven't managed to get enough sand to sell, and

my body is already aching."

(Reporting by Charles Pensulo; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile

and Ellen Wulfhorst. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the

charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://context.news/)