Malawi is a landlocked country in southern Africa, bordering Mozambique, Zambia and the United Republic of Tanzania. It is categorised as a least developed country (LDC) and its high dependence on agriculture makes it one of the countries most affected by climate change. It has a history of being heavily dependent on official development assistance, which plays a significant role in the government’s fiscal planning. In 1998, the country set itself the goal of becoming a self-reliant, middle-income country by 2020, through sustainable growth and development. The national long-term perspective for development was encapsulated in the “Vision 2020” report, which formed the basis of the more practical “Malawi Growth and Development Strategy”, now in its third edition covering the period 2017-2022.
Malawi is divided into 27 administrative districts and has two major cities, Blantyre and Lilongwe (respective populations almost 585,000 and 647,000 in 2018), with the remainder of its almost 19 million inhabitants living in rural areas. Lake Malawi, which also has borders with Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania, can be considered a non-urban economic centre with a concentration of industries such as tourism and freshwater fishing.