Clean water is vital for a healthy population. In Malawi, 87 percent of the households have access to an improved source of drinking water, however out of this, only 15 percent of the households have the source for their drinking water on their premises. The Majority of the households (43 percent)  have to walk for 30 minutes or longer to obtain their drinking water. Additionally, about half of the households in Malawi (52 percent) use an improved sanitation facility.

Poor sanitation practices and improper storage of drinking water commonly lead to diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera. According to the 2015-2016 MDHS, 28 percent of children under two years old experienced at least one incident of diarrhoea, this is a great improvement from the 2010 MDHS report when 78 percent of the children under two years old experienced diarrhoea.

USAID works closely with the Ministries of Health and  Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development to strengthen the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. As part of this important partnership, USAID is committed to working with the government of Malawi, development partners, and civil society to improve access to and provision of quality WASH services.