Floating weeds threaten farming and fishing at Malawi’s Chia Lagoon

A mass of floating weeds has clogged Chia Lagoon in Malawi, flooding farmland that once drained seasonally and blocking boat routes fishers rely on for their livelihoods. More than 7,800 households depend directly on the lagoon for rice, cassava, maize farming and fishing.

Researchers studying the watershed say deforestation, farmland expansion and settlement growth around the lagoon's edges may have worsened silt buildup, and two waves of flooding in December and January may have uprooted plants and driven the debris mass together. No one has a confirmed explanation yet, and the surrounding research meant to answer other questions hasn't been published.

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