Be it floods, storms, or droughts, disasters over the past decade have revealed Malawi’s vulnerability to natural hazards and put the spotlight on the need to strengthen the resilience of the country’s infrastructure including transport. For instance, following  Tropical Storm Ana in January 2022, Malawi’s road network saw more than $67 million in damages. Roughly 1,400 kilometers of road in Malawi are estimated to be in poor condition and highly susceptible to rains and floods.

Through the $65 million Resilient and Strategic Transport Operational Enhancement (RESTORE) Project, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the World Bank are supporting Malawi in building the resilience of the country’s road transport sector. Approved by the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors in September 2025, by 2030, RESTORE is expected to improve access to resilient and sustainable transport for nearly 650,000 people in Malawi.

RESTORE will rehabilitate Malawi’s M1 road, a critical road corridor which is the backbone of the national road network.  As M1 connects one of Malawi’s food basket regions, the Lower Shire, to the rest of the country, improvements to the road will promote agricultural productivity, and thus help advance the country’s food security.  Focusing on a 90 kilometer stretch of the road from Thabwa to Bangula, the work is expected to include rehabilitation of existing pavement to asphalt concrete, as well as the reconstruction of four existing bridges.

“The main problem being encountered is the increased cost of transportation whenever the road is blocked due to flooding. We have to pay extra costs for ferrying the goods on boats but also the use of two or more vehicles per trip. The M1 Road project will ease out these problems; as a result [this] will help us maximise our profits. The project will also improve market centers, we expect improvement of sanitation which will help us conduct our business in a clean environment.”

Mr. Levison Mbaula, Nchalo market chairperson

RESTORE will also carry out upgrades to the S152, a major road which connects population centers in North Shire to the M1. Focusing on a 60 kilometer stretch of the road from Thabwa to Seven, the work is expected to include the reconstruction of one main bridge, and the replacement of existing culvert structures. The improvements to both the M1 and S152 will be designed to ensure their long-term resilience to Malawi’s changing climate.

Complementing this support, RESTORE will also strengthen Malawi’s capacity on climate resilient transport management, in collaboration with the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). Capacity-building activities will include training on climate-resilient asset management for practitioners from key government agencies, as well as an apprenticeship program for young professionals and technicians on climate-resilient planning, design, construction and maintenance.

GFDRR support for RESTORE was provided under the auspices of the Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries (Japan-World Bank DRM Program) and financed by the Government of Japan. Drawing on Japanese experience in resilient transport, this support was critical in developing analytical work which has informed the design of the project. An asset road vulnerability assessment identified the most vulnerable sections along both M1 and S152 and proposed engineering solutions, while a catchment and debris management analysis addressed sedimentation and debris risks within the project area, recommending measures to protect the two roads. A leading construction consulting firm in Japan was commissioned to both studies, and the findings not only informed the engineering design and prioritization of investments, but will also lay the foundation for more advanced vulnerability assessments in the future.

RESTORE builds upon longstanding World Bank and GFDRR support for a more resilient Malawi. Previously, GFDRR technical assistance has been instrumental in enabling the World Bank’s approval of two Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) operations.  Contingent lines of credit which provide access to immediate liquidity in the aftermath of a disaster or emergency, the Cat DDO operations helped safeguard Malawi’s financial resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the early 2024 food crisis induced by El Niño. 

In addition, technical assistance provided through the Japan-World Bank DRM Program has previously supported knowledge sharing and training opportunities on transport asset vulnerability assessment and geohazard risk management in Malawi. This knowledge exchange is expected to facilitate the implementation of RESTORE. Under this technical assistance, the Japanese consulting company that led the technical assessments for the RESTORE project held a public lecture in 2024 at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). The lecture introduced local students and practitioners to the process of conducting transport asset vulnerability assessment and geohazard risk management, which is a key emerging skillset in the transportation engineering sector. A separate Malawi National DRM Symposium was also held in 2024, with the same consultants delivering a technical presentation to disseminate insights on road vulnerability assessments from the RESTORE project to a larger group of DRM practitioners in the country.