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A group of Malawian citizens takes British multinational ABF to court
Residents of Kanseche, Malawi, accuse ABF of contributing to the devastating 2022 floods through its subsidiary, Illovo Sugar.
More than 1,700 people in Malawi have filed a lawsuit against the British multinational Associated British Foods (ABF) over the devastating floods that struck the village of Kanseche in 2022. Located in the country’s south, Kanseche was hit by Tropical Storm Ana, which destroyed much of the village, killed seven people and left hundreds of families displaced—a situation that continues today.
Residents accuse ABF of contributing to the disaster through the high flood embankments built to protect sugar cane plantations operated by its subsidiary Illovo Sugar. According to the plaintiffs, these embankments diverted floodwaters towards the village, worsening the destruction. ABF denies any responsibility.
The 2022 floods in Malawi
On 24 January 2022, Tropical Storm Ana struck southern Malawi. The region has long been vulnerable to heavy rainfall associated with cyclones forming in the Mozambique Channel, but the scale of destruction caused by Ana was far greater than usual. Among the hardest-hit communities was Kanseche, where around 300 millimetres of rain fell within just 24 hours. Floodwaters engulfed roads as residents fled for safety, with some climbing trees to escape the rising water.
The disaster left seven people dead, including children, and displaced hundreds of residents who, more than four years later, have still been unable to return to their destroyed homes. Floodwaters took three days to recede. Kanseche lies in one of Malawi’s most important sugar-producing regions.
Large sugar plantations have operated there since the 1960s. In 1997, Illovo Sugar—the country’s largest sugar producer and part of the British conglomerate Associated British Foods, which also owns Primark—acquired the Nchalo Estate, a 200-square-kilometre plantation west of Kanseche. According to local residents, it is the management of these plantations—which also supply sugar to companies including Coca-Cola and Nestlé—that contributed to the flooding that destroyed their village.
The embankment dispute
A group of 1,729 people affected by Tropical Storm Ana has sued ABF, arguing that the disaster was worsened by the high flood defences built around the sugar cane plantations.
According to the claim, embankments as high as an adult prevented floodwaters from spreading naturally across surrounding farmland—as they had done in the past—and instead channelled them with greater force directly into Kanseche. “The embankment diverted the natural course of the Mwanza River towards Kanseche village, more than doubling the force of the floodwaters,” the community’s lawyers said.
British consultancy JBA Risk Management was commissioned by the NGO Water Witness to model whether the plantation embankments contributed to the disaster. Its analysis supported the community’s claims, concluding that the embankments increased floodwater levels by up to 1.3 metres. Without them, the report found, buildings in Kanseche would likely have avoided structural damage and most areas would have remained safe for residents. As early as 2018, the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF) had warned that raising embankments to protect plantations could increase flood risks for neighbouring communities.
ABF’s response
ABF has rejected both the community’s allegations and the conclusions of the flood modelling. The company says Tropical Storm Ana caused £7.4 million worth of damage to its plantations around Kanseche and that workers’ housing within the estate was also affected.
However, in recent weeks the High Court in London ruled that the case will proceed to trial, with hearings expected to take place by May 2028. The decision opens the possibility of compensation for the affected community if the court ultimately finds the company liable.
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