Malawi is at the crossroads of human trafficking. It is both a source country, where citizens are lured abroad under false promises, and a transit route for traffickers moving victims southward.

The crisis is underscored by Malawians still trapped in Oman awaiting repatriation, and by the recent conviction in South Africa of Chinese nationals who trafficked 91 Malawians, 37 of them children, at Beautiful City Factory in Johannesburg.

Government officials admit that funding to support survivors is inadequate, limiting protection and repatriation efforts.

What should be done to end the vicious circle in which between 300 and 1,500 individuals are said to be trafficked within or from Malawi annually?

In Mangazi Village, Traditional Authority Chimaliro in Thyolo, what began as a routine evening meal ended in a devastating inferno. 

“The incident occurred when the fire broke out while the victims were cooking supper using a charcoal burner in the house of a 32-year-old Joyce Maganga who was allegedly keeping illegal fuel stock in jerrycans,” said Thyolo Police Spokesperson, Rabecca Kashoti.

At 66, Esinati Mailosi from Thyolo still remembers the moment her world was shattered not with a loud bang, but with whispers. It was at a funeral.

In 2025, a relative died after a short illness. As mourners gathered in Samuti Village in the area of Senior Chief Boyidi, the atmosphere was heavy, not just with grief, but with suspicion.

Food insecurity in Southern Africa is often framed as a problem of low production. But in Malawi, a quieter crisis is eating away at food security, massive post-harvest losses that leave millions without enough to eat, even when fields have produced.

Recent estimates from the World Food Programme (WFP) reveal that Malawi loses between 20 and 30 percent of its maize every year after harvest. That is roughly 600,000 metric tonnes, enough food to feed millions in a country where over four million people already face food insecurity. This is the maize that government annually invests in billions of money to aid farmers and increase production through the Farm Inputs Subsidies, mega farms among other initiatives.