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SALIMA/CHIKWAWA, Malawi - It's only 9 a.m. and Zainunda Wilson is already tired from shovelling sand since daybreak into a five-tonne truck on the shores of Lake Malawi.

The 37-year-old sand miner has no time to admire her surroundings - a tourist hot spot centred on the vast body of water known as the Lake of Stars for the brilliance of its nighttime reflections.

What Wilson does notice is that its shores are receding, and she thinks she may be partly to blame. But she says she has no other option.

"We believe that (sand mining) is contributing to erosion because when we remove the sand, the water comes and fills up the space," she told Context.

"I joined sand mining because I was unemployed and stranded," Wilson said. "When we sell (sand), we buy food and support the household. We also buy school materials for the children."

Sand mining around rivers and lakes is broadly illegal in Malawi, and rivers and the Lake Malawi basin are by law.

Councils can also enact bylaws to in other areas, but unregulated sand mining thrives.

On this morning, dozens of women and men were shovelling sand into trucks across the Maganga settlement on the lake's shore. At the Chingombe Stream, deep gullies were visible along its banks.

Sand mining is contributing heavily to , leaving communities even more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including the increasingly frequent droughts, cyclones and floods.

Previously dominated by men, the back-breaking work has drawn more women and children trying to make ends meet after a devastating drought desiccated crops and pushed millions of people into hunger across southern Africa.

The drought has been fuelled by El Niño, a climate phenomenon that can exacerbate drought or storms -- weather conditions made more likely by climate change.

Now Malawi faces La Niña weather phenomenon, which involves the cooling of ocean surface temperatures and could bring increased rainfall, flooding, soil erosion and landslides.

Tsork Kumcheza, an environmental officer at the Malawi Environment Protection Authority, which monitors illegal sand mining, said the number of people mining sand in prohibited areas is rising because of high demand and economic need.

"There are some risks because it is not safe for the women conducting those activities," she said, noting the physical dangers the miners face carrying heavy, wet sand and adding that the sand mining also pollutes surrounding water.

"It's an issue that needs to be taken care of," she said.

No choice

Sand is the , after water, according to the U.N. Environment Programme. It is used in cement and concrete, glass and tarmac.

The business is booming in Malawi as demand from due to a growing population and the expansion of cities.

But the chief of the traditional authority in Maganga and hotel owners say the practice is eroding the natural beach and driving away tourists.

For miners like Wilson, the earnings are meagre.

On a typical day, she will move two to four tonnes of sand. Filling a seven-tonne truck will fetch 30,000 Malawian kwacha, about $17, while filling a two-tonne truck nets 7,000 kwacha, or barely $4.

"This is a really tough job and when I go home, the joints feel like they have dislocated because the pain is just severe," Wilson said.

Exacerbating problems

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and formal sector employment accounts for only 11% of total employment, according to 2022 ministry of labour figures.

Double-digit inflation in February in the capital city of Lilongwe, where street vendors said the rising prices were putting them out of business.

While for some Malawians, sand mining offers an immediate lifeline, the longer-term, broader problem is land degradation, said Charles Bakolo, voluntary national coordinator for the Malawi Creation Care Network, which campaigns for stronger environmental policies.

Agricultural practices, particularly in areas of extensive land clearing, are also contributing to severe soil erosion and siltation of the water, he said.

"The Shire River, which is crucial for our national hydropower and agriculture, is becoming increasingly blocked with sediment," he said.

"These environmental changes are not just affecting our natural landscape but are directly threatening the livelihoods of millions of Malawians who depend on agriculture and water resources."

Policies are needed to protect the environment and support sustainable development, such as better land management practices and forest protection, he said.

"If we do not act now, Malawi risks facing more severe environmental disasters, increased food insecurity and long-term economic challenges," Bakolo said.

But for Mercy Richard, a 32-year-old mother of three children, feeding her family is her most pressing concern after floods washed away her maize crops in Chikwawa in southern Malawi.

She mines sand at the Mwamphanzi River, even though she knows this makes the flooding worse.

"We don't have any other choice. Like today, I left early in the morning leaving children without even porridge," she said. "But up to now I haven't managed to get enough sand to sell, and my body is already aching."

 (Reporting by Charles Pensulo; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile and Ellen Wulfhorst.)