This episode was recorded on July 30, 2025 during GiveWell's site visit to Malawi and represents our best understanding at that time.

We’re launching a new podcast mini-series that lets you ride along with our leadership team on their recent weeklong site visit to Malawi. Recorded daily during the trip, the series shares real-time reflections and clips of conversations with community members. New episodes will be released weekly over the next month, and you can subscribe to be notified when each episode is published. 

At GiveWell, the vast majority of our work is desk-based research—analyzing evidence and modeling program outcomes. Site visits are a small part of what we do, but they add crucial on-the-ground context that raises important questions, challenges our assumptions, and makes our research stronger.

We had two main goals in visiting Malawi. First, we wanted to understand the effects of foreign aid cuts firsthand in a country that may be particularly hard hit. Second, we wanted to see livelihoods programs like GiveDirectly and Spark Microgrants in action, providing insight as we expand our focus on interventions that aim to increase people’s economic well-being.

Throughout the week, the team visited health clinics, schools, and local villages to speak with healthcare workers and community members who shared a glimpse into their lives. On day one, the GiveWell team visited Zingwangwa Health Center and two villages that had recently received unconditional cash transfers through GiveDirectly.

This new podcast mini-series offers a candid, day-by-day account of our learning process and new insights that will inform our research. We invite you to listen, subscribe, and follow along!