Final Evaluation Brief: Supporting Sustainable Land Management to Improve Hydropower Generation in Malawi

Hydroelectricity powers Malawi’s electricity grid. Just three hydropower plants along the Shire River represent 70 percent of the country’s total electricity generation capacity, making it susceptible to environmental changes that inhibit power generation. Changing climate and land use practices limit plant utilization by causing increased sedimentation in the head ponds of the power plants, which reduces water levels, and by amplifying weed growth, which clogs plant turbines. This report is the first of two volumes that offer the final findings of a six-year evaluation of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $20 million Environmental and Natural Resources Management (ENRM) Project, part of the $347 million Malawi compact (2013-2018). The ENRM project aimed to reduce power plant disruptions and increase electricity generation efficiency in part by creating a grant facility to support communities in adopting sustainable land management practices and to help women and vulnerable groups in those communities improve their economic and social rights and their decision-making power within their households and communities. The findings reported are based on a performance evaluation that comprehensively evaluated the ENRM project’s implementation, outcomes, and sustainability.