It’s money or poor health on Lake Chilwa

Yamikani Kula of Mwaluka Village, Traditional Authority Kuntumanje in Zomba has known no other means of earning a living other than fishing.

He spends three or more days in zimbowela, a temporally settlement which fishers built in the middle of Lake Chilwa in order to have enough time and space to fish.

Kula says it is every fisherman’s dream to camp in zimbowela because one is guaranteed to catch a lot of fish unlike fishing from upland.

“On a good day, I make K15 000 from fish sales, thanks to zimbowela fishing camp,” he proudly says.

“We have normal household activities here [zimbowela] like cooking, washing, but the main activity is fishing,” he says.

Kula is, however, uncomfortable to talk about the health aspect of living in this set-up.

Lake Chilwa is the second largest lake of the country after Lake Malawi. Even though it is a shallow lake (2.7 metres), it is home to 14 species of fish. But the most common species are mlamba, chambo and matemba.

The lake is a source of livelihood for about 1.5 million people of Zomba, Machinga, Phalombe and part of Mozambique which surround it.

Reports indicate that there are 6 000 small-scale fishers on the lake and 17 000 tonnes of fish are produced from the lake yearly.

However, of late Lake Chilwa has been in the local and international media for having cholera outbreak.

District environmental health officer (Deho) for Zomba, Elizabeth Chingaipe, says eight people died of the disease last month and 219 others were treated of the same.

“One of the things contributing to the cholera outbreak is fishers’ temporally settlement in the water. They relieve themselves in the water, yet they use the same water for drinking and cooking,” she says.

It does not help that the lake has no outlet.

A recent visit to Kachulu, part of Lake Chilwa, established that fishers are not threatened by the health implications of living in zimbowela.

This is not the first time the area has had a cholera outbreak, but mostly the locals regard waterborne diseases as being common due to the communities’ proximity to the lake and not their lifestyle.

Chairperson for Mposa Beach Village Committee (BVC) Abel Mindozo of Mapila Village, Traditional Authority Mposa in Machinga says it is difficult to eradicate cholera on Lake Chilwa because there are many fishers using zimbowela who cannot accept to move away.

“Cholera is there not because people live in zimbowela, but because of the decrease in the lake’s water levels,” he observes.

Mindozo says they encourage zimbowela fishers to build far from each other to avoid waterborne diseases.

He adds: “I remember in the 1970’s when the water levels dropped, there was a cholera outbreak so much that medical personnel had to camp at Lake Chilwa beach to treat the cases.”

Kachulu Fisheries Station officer-in-charge Nickson Massi says due to rapid population growth, there is pressure on fisheries on the lake which has led to people resorting to staying in zimbowela against Fisheries Department regulations.

“Fishers are given a licence to fish for nine months and not to stay on the lake for a prolonged period,” he says.

But Mindozo says the fisheries’ license is silent on this issue.

Member of Parliament for Zomba Likangala, McRonald Khwepeya notes that if the culture of zimbowela is destroyed, fishers will have no source of revenue and thereby, resort to causing unrest such as stealing in the surrounding communities.

“There is need to find a healthy solution to this other than stopping fishers from staying at zimbowela since they cannot do without it. There are a lot of people whose lives depend on fishing, so where will they go?” he wonders.

Chairperson for Maukonde Businesspeople of Kachulu, Brown Matekenya, said the fishers do not need to operate from zimbowela since they can fish from Chisi hills.

“Cholera seems to be a permanent problem here because of zimbowela. That is why they need to be demolished. The situation is likely to worsen because of rapid population growth,” he says.

As the county’s population continues to grow with 400 000 births every year according to Population Action International (PAI), there is going to be more pressure to fish on Lake Chilwa.