{"doc_desc":{"idno":"DDI_MWI_2024-2025_IHS-VI_v01_M","producers":[{"name":"Development Data Group","abbr":"DECDG","affiliation":"World Bank Group","role":"Documentation of the survey"}],"version_statement":{"version":"Version 01 (July 2026)"}},"study_desc":{"title_statement":{"idno":"MWI_2024-2025_IHS-VI_v01_M","title":"Sixth Integrated Household Survey 2024-2025","alternate_title":"IHS-VI 2024-25"},"authoring_entity":[{"name":"National Statistical Office (NSO)","affiliation":"Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MoEPD)"}],"production_statement":{"producers":[{"name":"World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study","abbr":"WB-LSMS","affiliation":"","role":"Technical assistance"}],"funding_agencies":[{"name":"World Bank Regional Statistical Capacity Building Project","abbr":"WB-Stat Cap","role":"Financial support"},{"name":"Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement","abbr":"WB-UNHCR","role":"Financial support"}]},"distribution_statement":{"contact":[{"name":"National Statistical Office","affiliation":"Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MoEPD)","email":"commissioner@nso.gov.mw","uri":"https:\/\/www.nsomalawi.mw\/"}]},"series_statement":{"series_name":"Living Standards Measurement Study [hh\/lsms]","series_info":"The Integrated Household Survey (IHS) is a key tool used by the Government of Malawi, through the National Statistical Office (NSO; http:\/\/www.nsomalawi.mw\/), to track and assess the evolving living conditions of Malawian households. Among its many contributions, IHS data supply essential benchmark indicators on poverty and vulnerability. These help support evidence-based policymaking and track progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the objectives outlined in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS).\n\nWhile earlier rounds of the IHS were conducted every 6\u20137 years, the program shifted to a new schedule beginning with the IHS4 (2016\/17) data collection round. Moving forward, surveys will now be carried out every three years, in line with the NSO\u2019s goal of gathering poverty-related data on a more regular basis.\n\nThe First Integrated Household Survey (IHS1) was carried out with technical support from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Bank (WB). Conducted in Malawi between November 1997 and October 1998, the IHS1 delivered a wide range of insights for policy analysis. These included households\u2019 behaviour and welfare, income distribution, employment, health, and education.\n\nThe Second Integrated Household Survey was implemented with technical assistance from the World Bank in order to compare the current situation with the situation in 1997-98, and to collect more detailed information in specific areas. The IHS2 fieldwork took placed from March 2004 through February 2005. \n\nThe Third Integrated Household Survey (IHS3) expanded on the agricultural content of the IHS2 and was implemented from March 2010 to March 2011 under the umbrella of the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study \u2013 Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) initiative, whose primary objective is to provide financial and technical support to governments in sub-Saharan Africa in the design and implementation of nationally-representative multi-topic panel household surveys with a strong focus on agriculture. A sub-sample of IHS3 sample enumeration areas (EAs) (i.e. 204 EAs out of 768 EAs) was selected prior to the start of the IHS3 field work with the intention to (i) visit a total of 3,246 households in these EAs twice to reduce recall associated with different aspects of agricultural data collection (ii) track and resurvey these households in 2013 in accordance with the IHS3 fieldwork timeline and as part of the Integrated Household Panel Survey 2013 (IHPS). The LSMS-ISA initiative also provided technical and financial assistance to the design and implementation of the IHPS, alongside DFID, Norway and Government of Malawi funding for the exercise. The IHPS 2013 main fieldwork took place during the period of April-October 2013, with residual tracking operations in November-December 2013. \n\nThe Fourth Integrated Household Survey 2016\/17 (IHS4) which was implemented in the period of April 2016-April 2017 covering 780 EAs throughout Malawi. As part of this project NSO also implemented the Integrated Household Panel Survey 2016 as a follow up to the IHPS 2013. This panel subsample covered 102 of the 204 baseline IHS3 panel EAs and was conducted during the first half of IHS4 fieldwork. Throughout the design and implementation of the IHS4, the NSO received technical assistance as part LSMS-ISA. The financial support to the IHS4 was provided by Government of Malawi (GoM), WB LSMS-ISA project, and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). \n\nThe Fifth Integrated Household Survey (IHS5) was implemented between April 2019 and April 2020 and followed the same set up as the IHS4, running concurrently with the Integrated Household Panel Survey 2019.\n\nThe Sixth Integrated Household Survey (IHS6) was implemented between July 2024 and July 2025. It followed the same setup as the IHS5 and ran concurrently with the Integrated Household Panel Survey 2024. Throughout the design and implementation of the IHS6, the NSO received technical assistance from the LSMS. Financial support for the IHS6 was provided by the World Bank Statistical Capacity Building Project and the Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, a World Bank\u2013UNHCR collaboration."},"version_statement":{"version_date":"2026-06-29","version_notes":"This is version 1 of the dataset and associated technical documents."},"study_info":{"abstract":"The Integrated Household Survey (IHS) is one of the primary instruments implemented by the Government of Malawi through the National Statistical Office (NSO) to monitor and evaluate the changing conditions of Malawian households. Conducted roughly every three years, the IHS provides, among other insights, key benchmark indicators on poverty and vulnerability. These indicators support evidence-based policy formulation and help track progress toward national and international development goals, specifically as outlined in Malawi 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).","coll_dates":[{"start":"2024-07-23","end":"2025-07-16","cycle":""}],"nation":[{"name":"Malawi","abbreviation":"MWI"}],"geog_coverage":"National coverage","analysis_unit":"\u2022 Households\n\u2022 Individuals\n\u2022 Consumption expenditure commodities\/items\n\u2022 Communities\n\u2022 Agricultural household\/ Holder\/ Crop\n\u2022 Market","universe":"Members of the following households are not eligible for inclusion in the survey:\n\u2022 All people who live outside the selected EAs, whether in urban or rural areas.\n\u2022 All residents of dwellings other than private dwellings, such as prisons, hospitals and army barracks.\n\u2022 Members of the Malawian armed forces who reside within a military base. (If such individuals reside in private dwellings off the base, however, they should be included among the households eligible for random selection for the survey.)\n\u2022 Non-Malawian diplomats, diplomatic staff, and members of their households. (However, note that non-Malawian residents who are not diplomats or diplomatic staff and are resident in private dwellings are eligible for inclusion in the survey. The survey is not restricted to Malawian citizens alone.)\n\u2022 Non-Malawian tourists and others on vacation in Malawi.","data_kind":"Sample survey data [ssd]","notes":"The 2024-2025 Sixth Integrated Household Survey covered the following topics:\n\nHOUSEHOLD\n\u2022 Household and Geographic Area Identification and Survey Information (data of interview, enumerator's and supervisors codes, etc.)\n\u2022 Household Roster\n\u2022 Education\n\u2022 Health\n\u2022 Time Use and Labor\n\u2022 Housing\n\u2022 Food Consumption (over past one week)\n\u2022 Food Security\n\u2022 Non-food Expenditures - over past one week and one month\n\u2022 Non-food Expenditures - over past three months\n\u2022 Non-food Expenditures - over past 12 months\n\u2022 Durable Goods\n\u2022 Farm Implements, Machinery, and Structures\n\u2022 Household Enterprises\n\u2022 Children Living Elsewhere\n\u2022 Other Income\n\u2022 Gifts Given Out\n\u2022 Social Safety Nets\n\u2022 Credit\n\u2022 Subjective Assessment of Well-being\n\u2022 Shocks and Coping Strategies\n\u2022 Child Anthropometry\n\u2022 Deaths in Household\n\u2022 Tourism\n\u2022 Savings\n\nAGRICULTURE\n\u2022 Garden Roster (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Plot Roster (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Garden Details (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Plot Details (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Affordable Input Program (rainy season)\n\u2022 Other Inputs (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Crops (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Seeds (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Sales\/ Storage (both for rainy season and dry (dimba) season)\n\u2022 Tree\/ Permanent Crop Production (last 12 months)\n\u2022 Tree\/ Permanent Crop Sales\/ Storage (last 12 months)\n\u2022 Livestock\n\u2022 Livestock Products\n\u2022 Access to Extension Services\n\nFISHERY (Open catch and Aquaculture )\n\u2022 Species, Gear, Production and Labor\n\nCOMMUNITY\n\u2022 Roster of Informants\n\u2022 Basic Information\n\u2022 Economic Activities\n\u2022 Agriculture\n\u2022 Changes\n\u2022 Community Needs, Actions and Achievements\n\u2022 Communal Resource Management\n\u2022 Communal Organization\n\nMarket\n\u2022 Market Identification\n\u2022 Crops\n\u2022 Permanent Crops\n\u2022 Food Unit Measurement"},"method":{"data_collection":{"sampling_procedure":"The sampling frame for the IHS6 is based on the 2018 Malawi survey frame. The target universe for the IHS6 includes all households and persons living in them across all districts of Malawi, including the small island district of Likoma, which was also included in IHS4 and IHS5 but not in the previous surveys. The sampling frame excludes the population living in institutions, such as school dormitories, hospitals, prisons and military barracks.\n\nA stratified two-stage sample design was used for the IHS6. The primary sampling units (PSUs) selected at the first sampling stage were the survey enumeration areas (EAs) defined for the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing census. The EA is the smallest operational area established for the survey, with well-defined boundaries on maps that correspond to the workload of one survey enumerator. The EAs have an average of about 215 households each.\n\nNote: Detailed sample design information is presented in the \"Sixth Integrated Household Survey 2024-2025, Basic Information Document\" document.","coll_mode":["Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]"],"research_instrument":"HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE\nThe Household Questionnaire is a multi-topic survey instrument and is near-identical to the content and organization of the IHS3, IHS4 and IHS5 questionnaires. It encompasses economic activities, demographics, welfare and other sectoral information of households. It covers a wide range of topics, dealing with the dynamics of poverty (consumption, cash and non-cash income, savings, assets, food security, health and education, vulnerability and social protection). Although the IHS6 household questionnaire covers a wide variety of topics in detail it intentionally excludes in-depth information on topics covered in other surveys that are part of the NSO\u2019s statistical plan (such as maternal and child health issues covered at length in the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey).\n\nAGRICULTURE QUESTIONNAIRE\nAll IHS6 households that are identified as being involved in agricultural or livestock activities were administered the agriculture questionnaire, which is primarily modelled after the IHS3 counterpart. The modules are expanding on the agricultural content of the IHS4, IHS3, IHS2, AISS, and other regional agricultural surveys, while remaining consistent with the NACAL topical coverage and methodology. The development of the agriculture questionnaire was done with input from the aforementioned stakeholders who provided input on the household questionnaire as well as outside researchers involved in research and policy discussions pertaining to the Malawian agriculture. The agriculture questionnaire allows, among other things, for extensive agricultural productivity analysis through the diligent estimation of land areas, both owned and cultivated, labor and non-labor input use and expenditures, and production figures for main crops, and livestock. Although one of the major foci of the agriculture data collection effort was to produce smallholder production estimates for major crops, it is also possible to disaggregate the data by gender and main geographical regions. The IHS6 cross-sectional households supply information on the last completed rainy season (2022\/23 or 2023\/24) and the last completed dry season (2023 or 2024) depending on the timing of their interview.\n\nFISHERIES QUESTIONNAIRE\nThe IHS6 fishery questionnaire was redesigned to match the \u201cCapturing What Matters\u201d guidance issued by the LSMS and the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, Malawi.\n\nCOMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE\nThe content of the IHS6 Community Questionnaire follows the content of the IHS4 & IHS5 Community Questionnaires. A \u201ccommunity\u201d is defined as the village or urban location surrounding the enumeration area selected for inclusion in the sample and which most residents recognize as being their community. The IHS6 community questionnaire was administered to each community associated with the cross-sectional EAs interviewed. Identical to the IHS3 and IHS4 approach, to a group of several knowledgeable residents such as the village headman, the headmaster of the local school, the agricultural field assistant, religious leaders, local merchants, health workers and long-term knowledgeable residents. The instrument gathers information on a range of community characteristics, including religious and ethnic background, physical infrastructure, access to public services, economic activities, communal resource management, organization and governance, investment projects, and local retail price information for essential goods and services.\n\nMARKET QUESTIONNAIRE\nThe Market Survey consisted of one questionnaire which is composed of four modules. Module A: Market Identification, Module B: Seasonal Main Crops, Module C: Permanents Crops, and Module D: Food Consumption.","coll_situation":"Field staff for the IHS6 were recruited following advertisements placed in national newspapers calling for enumerator positions. Shortlisted candidates were interviewed to select the most qualified individuals. The IHS6 Management Team, supported by World Bank LSMS-ISA team members, provided training to the field staff. The training included classroom sessions covering the questionnaire content, key concepts and definitions, interviewing techniques, and practical field exercises to ensure enumerators fully understood the survey tools. Detailed training instructions are provided in the Enumerator and Field Supervisor\u2019s Manuals. \n\nAt the end of the training, participants were evaluated through tests and assessments by supervisory staff. The top-performing candidates were selected as Field Supervisors, while 72 candidates were chosen as Field Enumerators.\n\nPre-enumeration listing exercises were conducted before the start of each phase of fieldwork. Mobile listing teams, equipped with printed maps of selected Enumeration Areas (EAs), recorded all dwellings and heads of households in the chosen cross-sectional EAs. Household counts for each listed enumeration area were submitted to the NSO IHS6 Management Team and properly documented. Where applicable, listing forms and maps were handed over directly to the field teams upon completion of district-level listing activities.\n\nFieldwork for the IHS6 commenced in July 2024 and was conducted simultaneously across the country until July 2025. Eighteen field-based mobile teams, each consisting of one supervisor, four enumerators, and one driver, were deployed to cover specific districts. Team supervisors received monthly enumeration assignment schedules on a quarterly basis. These assignments were accompanied by (1) enumeration area maps, (2) completed listing forms, (3) lists of selected and replacement households to be interviewed in each EA, and (4) Survey Solutions assignments for the selected EAs from headquarters.\n\nEach mobile field team included four enumerators responsible for conducting household interviews throughout the scheduled fieldwork period. The main duties of enumerators included accurately and completely administering the household, agriculture, and fishery questionnaires. Their responsibilities encompassed: (1) locating assigned households, (2) explaining the purpose of the survey and obtaining informed consent from respondents, (3) implementing all relevant questionnaire modules, (4) taking anthropometric measurements for eligible household members, (5) using GPS technology to record household locations and measure agricultural fields, and (6) participating in the review and correction of completed questionnaires.","weight":"The IHS6 survey employs a multi-stage weighting methodology to produce representative estimates across its domains. Design weights are calculated first at the enumeration area (EA) level using probability-proportional-to-size sampling, then at the household level using systematic selection with equal probability. These design weights are subsequently adjusted to account for deviations from the intended sample design, including a coverage correction for two uncovered EAs and household nonresponse adjustments implemented at the district and quarterly level to counteract the proportion of main sample households that were not interviewed. The weights are then calibrated to match known population parameters from Malawi's 2025 official population projections disaggregated by district, sex, and age class, which increases estimation efficiency and mitigates potential systematic bias. The final calibrated weights serve as the analytical weights for both household and individual-level analysis. For the refugee sample, a simpler approach was used whereby constant design weights based on equal probability selection were adjusted for nonresponse through replacement, though calibration was not performed due to unavailable demographic benchmarks. \n\nNote: Detailed weighting information is presented in the \"Sixth Integrated Household Survey 2024-2025, Basic Information Document\" document.","cleaning_operations":"DATA ENTRY PLATFORM\nTo ensure high data quality and timely data availability, the IHS6 used the World Bank\u2019s Survey Solutions CAPI software. Each team supervisor was provided with a laptop computer and a wireless internet router, while each enumerator received a 10-inch GPS-enabled Samsung tablet. The use of Survey Solutions enabled real-time data availability, as completed questionnaires were approved by supervisors and synced to the headquarters server as frequently as possible. While administering the first module of the questionnaire, enumerators also recorded the GPS coordinates of dwelling units using their tablets. This allowed headquarters to view the location of dwellings plotted on a map of Malawi, facilitating remote supervision by verifying both the number of interviews completed and whether sampled households fell within the correct Enumeration Area (EA) boundaries.  \n\nGeo-referenced household locations captured on the tablets complemented GPS measurements taken with Garmin eTrex 30 handheld devices. These locations were linked with publicly available geospatial databases, enabling the inclusion of various geospatial variables such as distance to the nearest market, climatology, soil and terrain characteristics, and other environmental factors \u2014 in the analysis.\n\nDATA MANAGEMENT \nThe IHS6 Survey Solutions CAPI application was designed to streamline the data collection process. Interviews were collected in \u201csample\u201d mode (with assignments generated from headquarters), rather than \u201ccensus\u201d mode, giving the NSO greater control over the sample.  \n\nThe range and consistency checks built into the application drew on lessons from the LSMS experience in previous IHS rounds. These pre-programmed checks allowed for the detection and reporting of potential issues, which could be investigated and corrected before an enumeration area was closed. Headquarters (NSO management) assigned work to supervisors based on their regions of coverage. Supervisors then assigned specific tasks to enumerators linked to their accounts. Work assignments and the syncing of completed interviews were carried out via Wi-Fi connection to the IHS6 server. Because the data was available in real time, it was closely monitored throughout the data collection period. Upon receipt at headquarters, the data was exported to STATA for additional consistency checks, cleaning, and analysis.\n\nDATA CLEANING\nData cleaning was carried out in several stages during fieldwork and preliminary analysis. The first stage occurred in the field, where teams used the error reports generated by the Survey Solutions application. For any flagged errors, enumerators were required to add comments explaining the issue and confirming that they had verified the response with the respondent. Supervisors were expected to sync enumerator tablets frequently to minimize the number of pending questionnaires and enable daily reviews. Some supervisors reviewed interviews on the tablets before syncing, recorded notes in the supervisor account, and rejected questionnaires when necessary.  \n\nThe second stage involved additional error reports generated in Stata and shared with field teams via email. Field supervisors collected these reports for their assigned areas and worked with enumerators to review, investigate, and correct errors. The rapid error-reporting process allowed for call-backs to respondents while teams were still in the enumeration area when needed. Corrections were made to rejected questionnaires and sent back to headquarters.  \n\nFurther cleaning was performed after interviews were approved, to resolve systematic errors and ensure consistency across data modules. Case-by-case cleaning was also conducted during preliminary analysis, particularly for out-of-range values and outliers.  \n\nAll cleaning activities were undertaken in close collaboration with World Bank staff who provided technical assistance to the NSO throughout the design and implementation of the IHS6."},"analysis_info":{"response_rate":"The final response rate at the national level was 99.9%."}},"data_access":{"dataset_use":{"contact":[{"name":"Kanyanda Shelton, Commissioner of Statistics","affiliation":"National Statistical Office - Malawi","email":"commissioner@nso.gov.mw","uri":""},{"name":"LSMS Data Manager","affiliation":"The World Bank","email":"lsms@worldbank.org","uri":""}],"cit_req":"Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:\n\u2022 the Identification of the Primary Investigator\n\u2022 the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)\n\u2022 the survey reference number\n\u2022 the source and date of download.\n\nExample:\nNational Statistical Office of Malawi. Malawi - Sixth Integrated Household Survey 2024-2025 (IHS-VI 2024-25). Ref: MWI_2024-2025_IHS-VI_v01_M. Downloaded from [uri] on [date].","conditions":"In receiving these data, it is recognized that the data are supplied for use within my organization, and I agree to the following stipulations as conditions for the use of the data:\n1. The data are supplied solely for the use described in this form and will not be made available to other organizations or individuals. Other organizations or individuals may request the data directly.\n2. Three copies of all publications, conference papers, or other research reports based entirely or in part upon the requested data will be supplied to:\nCommissioner Shelton Kanyanda\nNational Statistical Office\nChimbiya Road\nP.O. Box 333\nZomba, Malawi\nTel: +265 (0) 1 524 377\/111\nFax: +265 (0) 1 525 130\ne-mail: commissioner@nso.gov.mw\nweb site: http:\/\/www.nsomalawi.mw\n\n3. The researcher will refer to the Malawi 2019-2020 IHS5 Survey as the source of the information in all publications, conference papers, and manuscripts. At the same time, the World Bank is not responsible for the estimations reported by the analyst(s).\n4. Users will not use the location information to reveal the identity of survey respondents.\n5. Users will not publish results (map or other form) that would allow communities or individuals to be identified.\n6. Users who download the data may not pass the data to third parties.\n7. The database cannot be used for commercial ends, nor can it be sold.\nCitation requirements\nUse of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:\n\u2022 the Identification of the Primary Investigator\n\u2022 the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)\n\u2022 the survey reference number\n\u2022 the source and date of download.","disclaimer":"The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses."}}},"schematype":"survey","tags":[{"tag":"NODOI"}]}