Beyond Water was established in 2014 as a partner social enterprise to UK-registered charity Pump Aid. We realised that aid as we knew it wasn’t working, so we decided to be the change. A lack of ownership of water points meant that when pumps malfunctioned, they’d stay that way, as the users didn’t know who to contact to arrange repairs.
Beyond Water Malawi manufactures and sells low cost pumps for farm and home use and builds local businesses to repair and maintain community pumps. We are a Malawi-led social impact business that responds to local priorities and customer demand for reliable access to convenient water, delivering outstanding results and creating employment, ownership and prosperity.
Recognition
We were highly commended in the 2018 Financial Times Transformational Business Awards.
We work exclusively in Malawi, a landlocked country situated in Southern Africa with a population of over 19 million.
After more than 55 years of independence and billions of dollars of foreign aid, Malawi is poorer than ever. Clearly, aid as we know it is not working, and something needs to change.
Short term interventions in Malawi have created long term problems which still exist today.
The existence of Beyond Water is to address the following…
Pump functionality
Recent studies have revealed that up to 50% of community water points are non-functional
Lack of convenience
Women and girls walk up to 6km every day just to collect water. Scarce supplies will be used sparingly.
Food insecurity
80% of Malawi’s population are subsistence farmers, yet less than 11% use irrigation.
Economic prosperity
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with around two thirds of the population living below the poverty line.