A 1989 study (Chilowa and Shively 1989) surveyed 200 poor urban households, measured
their income and expenditure and nutrition levels in children. Household expenditure was
estimated at MK124 monthly, or MK24 per capital. This is equivalent to MK288 per annum. 68
percent of the budget was spent on food. A 1991 study of low income urban households shows
an average monthly household income of MK136. It is difficult to compare these figures to the
ones given by the World Bank in its poverty profiles, not only because the years are different, but
because poverty lines for urban households are generally estimated to be higher than for rural
areas. Certainly these households are not wealthy, and those at the bottom of the distribution
would be on a level with poorer rural households, but it is difficult to quantify what percentage
overall of urban households would be in that position.

 The nutritional data indicated a lower level of stunting than the national average, but a
higher level of wasting, or acute malnutrition. This is consistent with the results from the 1995
MIS survey, which show 8.7 percent wasting, as opposed to a national average of 7 percent. This
rises to 13.2 percent when the figures for urban Lilongwe are taken separately.

 A 1991 survey (Roe 1992) highlights the importance of food as a source of income in the
urban informal sector, both in terms of selling and processing and through food production. 70
percent of low income households either had a garden in the immediate area or at home in the
rural sector. Links were maintained with the extended family. Those households that consumed
food from their garden usually had enough to last for eight months. A quarter of them had sold
food in the previous year. This means that low income urban households may be more vulnerable
to drought than has previously been acknowledged. However, as with rural households, the main
problem is simple lack of resources.

2 Transitory Food Insecurity

 Transitory food insecurity, i.e. food insecurity resulting from an exogenous shock, which
is anticipated to be temporary, can result from climatic shocks, drought or flooding, from political
shocks, civil war or trade blockades, and from economic shocks such as unanticipated devaluation.
In Malawi the major cause of transitory food insecurity, and the one most commonly discussed,
is drought, which has been more frequent in the last decade.

 As with chronic food insecurity, transitory food insecurity basically reduces to an issue
of poverty. If there were no poverty, there would be minimal transitory food insecurity. For
example, in general, smallholders farming more than 2 hectares do not suffer from transitory food
insecurity. Their income may be reduced when there is a production shortfall, but they have
sufficient income reserves to ensure access to food. As discussed above, landholding size is a
rather crude and overly simplistic indicator of rural food insecurity. Nonetheless, as an initial
attempt to quantify the extent of the problem, it could be argued that smallholders farming less
than 0.5 ha suffer from chronic food insecurity and make up 41 percent of rural households. In
a major drought, however, the number of food insecure could be increased by the 31 percent of
households who farm between 0.5 and 1 hectare.