{"id":60150590,"date":"2026-09-10T17:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=photo_story&p=60150590"},"modified":"2026-09-10T17:10:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:10:47","slug":"communities-fight-to-resettle-in-malawis-protected-areas","status":"publish","type":"photo_story","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/communities-fight-to-resettle-in-malawis-protected-areas\/","title":{"rendered":"Communities fight to resettle in Malawi\u2019s protected areas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The road is rugged and slow from Rumphi Boma to Hewe, a rural trade centre perched on the boundary of Malawi\u2019s oldest and largest national park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vast patches on the gravel road are strewn with large stones and small gullies, such that a car journey which should take 1.5 hours takes four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a way, the state of the road reflects the experience of communities living around Nyika national park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife is hard here,\u201d group village head Chikulupati tells Dialogue Earth. \u201cThings are not moving.\u201d The traditional chief says that apart from lack of basic amenities such as passable roads, potable water and good schools, Hewe communities also face an acute shortage of land. He describes their life as a result, a grim struggle for survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dirt<\/div>
The gravel road from Rumphi to Hewe near the Nyika national park, northern Malawi. Local communities denounce a lack of basic amenities on top of a shortage of land (Image: Herbert Chawinga \/ Dialogue Earth)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYet, that vast land the national park occupies was once ours,\u201d Chikulupati recalls. \u201cWe never lacked the time we lived in Nyika; we had land that sustained our livelihood in many aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Franscina Mfune, a 51-year-old farmer, concurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says the land problem in Hewe has escalated to unprecedented levels due to population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farming is the main source of livelihood in the area, the widow says, but currently the majority of people do not have adequate land to grow crops for both subsistence and commercial endeavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe lost land to the national park, and we were pushed to settle in an area that was already occupied by other people,\u201d Mfune tells Dialogue Earth. And even when some lucky farmers happen to have surplus produce to sell, the rugged roads frustrate their efforts to access better markets, she says. Thus they are forced to trade at lower prices offered by unscrupulous vendors who follow them to Hewe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n