Abstract

Malawi has in recent years experienced large land acquisitions by foreign agriculture and mining interests. Between 2006 and 2010, some households of Kasitu and Nkhunga in Dwangwa, Nkhotakota were displaced to make way for the expansion of the sugarcane plantation in the areas. This study examines the different strategies that displaced households who had been removed from their established places of settlement employ as a way of adapting in the resettlement areas. This study sought to investigate the effects of development induced displacement and how these displaced households of Dwangwa adapted to resettlement areas. It adopted the qualitative approach and used focus group discussions and key informant interviews to collect the relevant data. The data was analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that the displacement affected the settlers’ main sources of livelihood which were farming, fishing and small scale businesses. Further, findings also revealed that the resettled households were engaged in a number of activities to restore their livelihoods such as ganyu, investing in the sugarcane schemes and getting employed at the sugarcane schemes. The conclusion from this study is that even though different livelihood strategies were employed, their outcomes were deemed insufficient to re-establish the standard of life the households had enjoyed previously. Hence the displacement and resettlement that took place in Dwangwa negatively affected the concerned households.

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School	: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issued Date	: 2017

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