Malawi will hold a presidential election on Tuesday as the African country continues to grapple with an economic crisis and food and fuel shortages.

Current President Lazarus Chakwera, a former theology instructor and preacher, was the challenger in the 2019 election that was won by then-incumbent Peter Mutharika only for it to be nullified by the country's highest court.

Chakwera won a redo of the elections more than a year later in 2020.

This time, the 70-year-old Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is seeking a second term and the 85-year-old Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is hoping to return to the leadership.

They are seen as the two main contenders in a lineup of 17 presidential candidates that includes another former president, Joyce Banda.

Malawians will also vote for the makeup of Parliament and more than 500 local councillors.

While Chakwera's eventual victory five years ago came as a result of months of determined street protests in support of him, the national mood has changed.

This vote takes place in the midst of economic turmoil and shaky trust in public institutions after the southern African nation of 21 million has struggled through five hard years.

Inflation and the cost of living have risen dramatically alongside critical shortages of fuel and sugar.

Cyclone Freddy in 2023 and an El Niño-inspired drought in 2024 destroyed crops and worsened food insecurity, and a plane crash last year killed Vice President Saulos Chilima, a man seen as a leader in waiting.

The winner needs to have more than 50% of the vote and analysts see a strong likelihood that no one will get a majority in the first round of voting and there will be a runoff between Chakwera and Mutharika.

The most prominent issues for voters in a country often rated as among the least developed in the world is the cost of food and fertilizer.

Malawi is landlocked and relies heavily on agriculture, with more than 80% of the population living in rural areas and relying on small-scale farming.

Its biggest export is tobacco.

AP video by Kenneth Jali

Production by Nqobile Ntshangase