Community water pumps are the mainstay of water for rural communities, providing a basic supply for all. However, up to 50% of Malawi’s 126,000 community pumps are non-functional at any given time, as a result of poor management and a lack of prompt repair and regular maintenance. A professionalized service is the way to ensure pumps work, and ultimately provide basic access for all.

Beyond Water Malawi manufactures and sells low cost pumps for farm and home use and builds local businesses to repair and maintain community pumps. It is a Malawi-led social impact business that responds to local priorities and customer demand for reliable access to convenient water, delivering employment, ownership and prosperity.

 Our award-winning approach creates transformative impact for rural communities in Malawi, with a focus on innovation, empowerment and sustainability. Our locally-led programmes have been proven to create employment, ownership and prosperity.

Our simple rope and washer pumps are made in Malawi, by Malawians. Our workshop, based in Lilongwe, produces our signature household pump for domestic use, drawing drinkable water from the ground to give rural communities convenient access to safe water. The irrigation pump is of a similar design and is optimised for farmers, requiring minimal physical exertion to water an entire plot of land.

Rural householders and small scale farmers tell us they want convenient easy to use water supplies and have the funds to invest. Yet, less than 11% of farmers use irrigation and only 5% of households have a convenient source, because no one is giving them the opportunity. We are changing this. 

The rope and washer pumps we manufacture are marketed and sold in Malawi. These pumps are sold at a subsidised rate, making the products accessible to those with a lower household income. We also offer means-tested credit schemed which can be agreed in alignment with harvest cycles. Many farmers are able to pay off the scheme after one harvest, as the irrigation pump improves their crop turnover by 100%.

Our sales agents not only know the products, they know the market. They speak the language of our customers - literally and figuratively - and understand the challenges of living in a rural community in Malawi.

Making our pumps available to buy means that we offer people a choice in what asset they invest in, and importantly, consumer rights to hold us - the seller - accountable for our product.

 A key cause of Malawi’s low-functionality is a shortage of skilled workers who can carry out repairs, and a lack of incentive for repairs to be carried out. We train local Malawians to become water entrepreneurs, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and equipment to run a financially viable business repairing and maintaining community water points.

Beyond Water's Repair and Maintenance service develops licensing agreements with District Council’s to establish regular service schedules, repairs within a fixed time frame, uptime performance, guaranteed payments for pump mechanics and support to communities for day to day water point management. Our approach incentivizes stakeholders to ensure functionality.