Mzuzu launches slum upgrading drive to give informal settlers secure land titles
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Habitat for Humanity Malawi and Mzuzu City Council have launched a slum upgrading project in Gesha and Nkhorongo aimed at turning informal settlements into planned, climate-resilient communities with secure land tenure.
Habitat for Humanity Malawi, in partnership with Mzuzu City Council, Mzuzu University and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, has launched a slum upgrading project targeting informal settlements including Gesha and Nkhorongo.
The initiative seeks to address housing shortages, insecure land tenure and environmental degradation by transforming informal settlements into planned, climate-resilient and sustainable communities, in line with the Malawi 2063 development agenda.
Habitat for Humanity Malawi National Director Rex Chapota said the project is focused on helping residents access decent housing and secure land ownership. "Decent homes cannot happen when people are living in informal settlements with no land titles and poor structures," he said, adding that spatial planning in the Gesha area would enable residents to obtain legal land titles and provide a foundation for improved housing.
Mercy Betty Dube, Director for Urban Development in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, said secure land ownership could encourage residents to invest in permanent structures because their tenure would be legally protected, supporting Malawi's long-term goal of developing well-serviced urban centres.
Mzuzu City Council Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Monica Kwalira, representing the council's chief executive officer, said formalising land ownership could also help residents access financing by using legally recognised titles as collateral, and that clearly defined land boundaries could reduce land disputes brought before the council for mediation.
The project is also promoting environmentally sustainable construction, including the use of stabilised soil blocks as an alternative to traditional fired bricks. Dr Kumbukani Mzengereza, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at Mzuzu University, said the soil and cement-based technology could contribute to reducing pressure on forests. He said the university's Technology Transfer Office was supporting the initiative through research and evidence-based solutions, including opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate research, while the project's spatial planning also considers environmental buffers, drainage and flood-risk mitigation.