The curse of Malawian supermarkets

There are so many things I can't quite get yet about Malawi, but the one that stroke me the most is how expensive everything is in supermarkets. And I keep questioning how people manage to live out of the little money they earn. For a bit of context:

- Mzuzu as only a couple of big shops and Western products are limited. What I would like to talk about (and reflect on) in this post is how expensive normal, ordinary things that Malawian households may need are.

- an average Malawian salary sums to about 500,000 Malawian kwacha (£210), with teachers earning even less - around 400,000 kwacha (£170) and someone working in the university as a secretary or a research assistant earning about 600,000 kwacha (£250).

Now, showing the prices below - some or most of which are higher than what we would pay for these products in the UK, I ask: how do Malawians live?

For example, a litre of milk is 7,799 kwacha (£3.30) and a carton of juice is 11,599 kwacha (almost £5!!).

 

For a packet of biscuits, you will pay 3,699 kwacha (£1.60 - ok, that's reasonable), but for a tiny packet of crisps you would pay 8,999 kwacha (£3.80!)

    

Now, what about more mundane items like...toilet paper? 9 rolls cost 48,995 kwacha (£20)!!! And toothpaste? over 9,000 kwacha for that - that's almost £4!

I have been wanting to indulge in Western treats, so had a look at what I could find. Then, rapidly changed my mind as my stinginess kicked in. A kinder egg costs 10,999 kwacha (£4.50)! Similar price for a chocolate bar. Doritos seem to go for only 3,999 (£1.70) but you will need 23,299 kwacha (£10) for a tube of Pringles!

     

Meanwhile, I have been trying to look for some shampoo - one of the many things I forgot to pack. Here, I was confronted with two issues: 1. it is not easy to find shampoo, I think it's considered an item for white people's hair. Or... I am yet to discover how Malawian women wash their hair. 2. When I finally got my hands on a bottle of Palmolive, it cost about 30,000 kwacha (£12.50). Needless to say I didn't buy it and I just accepted to wash my hair with a soap bar for a month.

 

I found shower gel though for over 20,000 kwacha (£8.50)!

Now, it is easy to imagine that most Malawian do not shop in supermarkets. To be fair, they probably do not shop in small corner shops either where, from my experience, prices are the same if not higher. Their diet, to which I will dedicate a more detailed post, relying on products from the Earth, which they can farm and collect on their land. It is also fair to note that most of the products sold in shops are imported and given how bad are the roads, the cost of transporting things probably adds to the price. But, is this enough to explain why everything is so expensive in here? Even things that are produced in Malawi? I will keep digging... while wishing to find answers - and cheaper shampoo!