Assessment of the wellness and agriculture for life advancement (WALA) activity
This assessment explores watershed development impact on rural household food security and resiliency under an integrated five-year USAID funded Title II Multi-Year Assistance Program (MYAP) entitled Wellness and Agriculture for Life Advancement (WALA) (2009-2014) in Malawi’s southern region. The WALA program was implemented by a nine-member consortium led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
The assessment analyzes the status of WALA’s watershed development investments; identifies the reasons for their sustainability or lack of sustainability; and determines the impact of those and other complementary WALA interventions on beneficiary household resiliency. This report presents assessment design, methodology, analysis and key findings and recommendations. The assessment was conducted in December 2017 in southern Malawi’s eight most food insecure districts: Nsanje, Chikwawa, Thyolo, Mulanje, Zomba, Machinga, Chiradzulu and Balaka. More than 300 WALA beneficiaries participated in Focus Group Discussions (FGD) at 24 watershed development sites. The 34-year period between WALA’s completion and the assessment allowed the assessment team to observe evidence of watershed treatment sustainability or unsustainability.