Informal Economy
Helping street traders and market vendors in Malawi
Malawi Malawi Union for the Informal Sector (MUFIS)
As a result of liberalisation of the economy and strict structural adjustment policies, the informal economy in Malawi has exploded, with a staggering 88% of the population struggling to survive in extremely insecure conditions. Neglected by the government, it is difficult for these workers to voice their concerns to local and national authorities. War on Want works together with MUFIS (Malawi Union for the Informal Sector) to provide street trader and market vendor organisations with training to strengthen their position in society.
MUFIS's aims
- To raise the concerns of the unrepresented informal economy workers to government authorities
- To organise and recruit members to strengthen MUFIS and raise its national profile
- To improve communications within MUFIS and with local and national authorities
- To train members in leadership and business ventures
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Southern Africa, with 65% of the population living below the poverty line. Average life expectancy is only 37 years. An estimated one in four adults in the urban areas in Malawi is infected with HIV & AIDS. Access to education and health services is negligible and over 70% of the population is unable to read or write.
To pay its foreign debt (which today stands at $3.3 billion dollars, or 60% of GNI), in the early 1990s the Government of Malawi liberalised the economy, introduced stringent structural adjustment policies and privatised public services. This exposed existing businesses to stiff competition from foreign imports. As a result, several industries offering employment to urban people were forced to downsize their operations or close down. The textile industry was particularly badly hit, and shrank by 1999 to 44 percent of its 1996 level, shedding over 70 percent of its workforce.
Malawians were left to scratch a living from the informal economy selling whatever goods they can, from clothes, shoes, groceries and hardware items, cooked and uncooked foods, fruits and vegetables, second hand clothes, and spare motor parts.
The Malawi Union for the Informal Sector (MUFIS) was established in 2001 to represent the growing numbers of informal economy workers. Working together with existing street vendor and market trader organisations, it aims to provide a national platform for informal economy workers. MUFIS has recently embarked on several organising and recruitment campaigns in southern Malawi to increase its membership and to set up branches in various markets and street vending areas. War on Want supports MUFIS to strengthen its capacity by offering training workshops in leadership skills.
Through drama and theatre, MUFIS raises awareness and mobilises street vendors to join the organisation. Here, actors show vendors being chased away by the City Council and how they then sought advice from MUFIS.
Through drama and theatre, MUFIS raises awareness and mobilises street vendors to join the organisation. Here, actors show vendors being chased away by the City Council and how they then sought advice from MUFIS.
| MUFIS's activities |
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| The Facts |
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 | Resources on the Informal Economy Download our reports on the informal economy, and view our photographs of workers in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya. |
| War on Want's Informal Economy programme Millions of people around the globe scrape a living working outside the formal economy. Find out what we're doing about it. |
| Join the fight against global poverty: Be a part of the solution. We need your help and support to continue our work campaigning and supporting overseas projects. |
