Cost of living in Malawi
Les-Longwe Miserables
Yesterday Geeta blogged a really insightful post about the sad
circumstances of a robbery that happened to some friends of
ours:
"...security guards have often been the ones to steal from
their employers. It begs the question why the very people hired to
enforce the law, so easily break it? Well, to start, I think it has
something to do with how much they are paid.
...Most of the large development agencies have contracts with one of
the two large security companies in Malawi... security companies seem
to have no problem paying abysmally low wages to their
employees...Ex-pats go through these companies because it seems to be
more reliable than just hiring a guard from off the street...
But it’s sadly ironic that, in some cases, the very agencies on the
front lines of mitigating the food crisis in Malawi have contracts with
companies that do not pay their employees enough to mange this crisis
without external support. Doesn’t it seems obvious that the security
situation in Malawi will likely deteriorate as poor Malawians become
more desperate?
I really recommend reading the full post, but I want to
focus in on the injustice she highlights. We pay $100/month to one of
these companies (Securicor) for a night guard. Our guard sees about
$20-$30 of that money. Is that enough to survive on?
A few months ago our church (Capital City Baptist) included a handout
from the Center for Social Concern in the bulletin. Based on up-to-date
prices from markets in Lilongwe it laid out the cost of living for a
family of six. I thought it was fascinating so I will reproduce an
abridged version (in US dollars) here:
Note that these are pre-famine prices - the cost of maize has more than
doubled since then. This also doesn't include the costs to send
children to school or paying for transportation. Should we be surprised
that security guards who work 72 hours a week for $25 a month are
stealing?
Yesterday Geeta blogged a really insightful post about the sad
circumstances of a robbery that happened to some friends of
ours:
"...security guards have often been the ones to steal from
their employers. It begs the question why the very people hired to
enforce the law, so easily break it? Well, to start, I think it has
something to do with how much they are paid.
...Most of the large development agencies have contracts with one of
the two large security companies in Malawi... security companies seem
to have no problem paying abysmally low wages to their
employees...Ex-pats go through these companies because it seems to be
more reliable than just hiring a guard from off the street...
But it’s sadly ironic that, in some cases, the very agencies on the
front lines of mitigating the food crisis in Malawi have contracts with
companies that do not pay their employees enough to mange this crisis
without external support. Doesn’t it seems obvious that the security
situation in Malawi will likely deteriorate as poor Malawians become
more desperate?
I really recommend reading the full post, but I want to
focus in on the injustice she highlights. We pay $100/month to one of
these companies (Securicor) for a night guard. Our guard sees about
$20-$30 of that money. Is that enough to survive on?
A few months ago our church (Capital City Baptist) included a handout
from the Center for Social Concern in the bulletin. Based on up-to-date
prices from markets in Lilongwe it laid out the cost of living for a
family of six. I thought it was fascinating so I will reproduce an
abridged version (in US dollars) here:
| ITEM | COST |
| Maize | $15.00 |
| Milling | $1.30 |
| Eggs | $3.25 |
| Meat | $8.00 |
| Beans | $1.10 |
| Dry Fish | $1.50 |
| Vegetables | $4.50 |
| Kapenta | $2.75 |
| Tomato | $3.75 |
| Onion | $2.25 |
| Milk | $2.75 |
| Bread | $4.00 |
| Cooking Oil | $2.25 |
| Salt | $.60 |
| Sugar | $2.25 |
| Tea | $.50 |
| Potatoes | $4.00 |
| Charcoal | $9.00 |
| Paraffin | $.60 |
| Electricity | $4.75 |
| Soap | $1.00 |
| Washing Soap | $.80 |
| Jelly Vase | $1.00 |
| Water | $3.00 |
| Housing | $25 |
| TOTAL | ~$100.00 |
Note that these are pre-famine prices - the cost of maize has more than
doubled since then. This also doesn't include the costs to send
children to school or paying for transportation. Should we be surprised
that security guards who work 72 hours a week for $25 a month are
stealing?
We've asked our house staff to give us an updated cost of maize only...but really we should have asked for other items. This list really helps to quantify the food situation comprehensively. Thanks for posting it.
The rumor last week was that Securicor was broken into and lost 100,000USD that would have been used to pay salaries...if true this can't be good.
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