Oil extraction in Lake Malawi will compromise the biodiversity

The government’s move to consider ‘Oil extraction in Lake Malawi’, is currently one of the hot topics and debates in Malawi’s media and social media respectively. Regarding the common question ‘whether we can extract oil and maintain biodiversity at the same time?’ My view is that there will be a compromise. Once we start extracting oil, there is no way we can guarantee to preserve biodiversity and enjoy the same ecosystem services from it as many Malawian do currently.

To begin with the ecosystem services (benefits we get from the waters and biodiversity in it) from lake Malawi: Fish catch from the lake provides unsubstitutable source of relish and cheap proteins (65% of households consume fish a at rate of 1.8 days per week - USAID (2014)). Within the agricultural and natural resources sector, fisheries is the second largest employer, sustain the livelihoods of about 10% of the population. Huge of population along the lake also rely on fresh water from the lake to drink and irrigate crops (FAO n.d.)..

Our economy; no doubt that we need miracles to move a step. Agricultural contribution to the economy has dwindled significantly (Matchaya et al., 2014). We need to find an alternative source of FOREX; oil extraction and mining are possible candidates

The compromise on biodiversity: But we cannot guarantee to access full benefit from both oil extraction and ecosystem services. The chances of oil spillage (water pollution) is high from drilling and transportation of oils. We have examples from very developed countries, the popular ones being: The DeepwaterHorizon Oil Spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill). In lake Malawi such kinds of oil accidents will likely lead to the pollutions of our fresh waters, killing several species of fish, reducing capacity of people to use water for irrigation, increased poverty to those who rely of fisheries.

The pollution caused by oil leakage - www.wikipedia.com

Reference

FAO (n.d.). Fishery Country Profile - The Republic of Malawi http://www.fao.org/fi/oldsite/FCP/en/mwi/profile.htm

Matchaya, G., Nhlengethwa,S., Chilonda, P. (2014). Agricultural Sector Performance In Malawi. Regional And Sectoral Economic Studies.

USAID (2014) The Importance of Wild Fisheries For Local Food Security: MALAWI