Impacts of Climate Change in Malawi

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN MALAWI

By MARTIN MUNKHONDYA

Malawi is particularly vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. It is expected to suffer an increase in mean temperature beyond 2 Degrees Celsius by 2050, a decrease in total annual rainfall and more erratic rainfall events as a result of climate change.

Ban Ki Moon, former UN Secretary General was once quoted saying “We are the first generation that can end poverty and the last generation that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of Climate Change…” In his speech, Mr Ki Moon demonstrated how the effects of climate change are directly correlated to poverty levels. It has been proven that the worst effects of climate change are felt the most by marginalized communities despite their negligible involvement in anthropogenic activities that have led to the rapid climate change today. Poverty levels in Malawi have increased its vulnerability to the changing climate especially on its economy which is heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Other sectors that have been heavily affected are the health sector, energy, transportation, tourism and the Malawi society as a whole. Extreme weather events such as the increased frequency and intensity of drought and floods, along with higher temperatures are retarding Malawi’s development.

For the past decade, Malawi has been facing extreme weather events including tropical cyclones which left damage in lives and property worth billions of US Dollars. Some of the recent tropical cyclones that have terrorized Malawi include but not limited to Tropical Cyclones Idai, Kenneth, Ana, Gombe etc. These have posed a threat to the economic growth, long-term prosperity, eroded resilience and adaptive capacity as well as the livelihoods of an already vulnerable population. With ninety percent of its population depending on rain-fed agriculture, extreme climatic conditions pose a greater impact to the economy of the country. Recently January 2023, Malawi has been experiencing episodes of severe flooding in most parts of the country that has resulted in the loss of lives and extensive damage to property and infrastructure. This is due to the flooding caused by heavy rainfalls accompanied by destructive storms, leaving many poor Malawians homeless as their houses are destroyed through these catastrophic events.

Malawi keeps being on the receiving end of the worst impacts of climate change because it has very little adaptive capacity as far as climate change mitigation and the management of associated disasters is concerned. This can be attributed to various reasons including lack of proper preparation of disasters, lack of financing of projects tailored at climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as lack of adequate weather data to help in assessing climate situation for decision makers to understand the direction in which the climate is heading to enhance proper preparation.

There is a paramount need for climate financing in Malawi to help vulnerable communities and those at risk prepare well for hydro meteorological hazards in order to lessen the impacts. There is a need for more climate intervention especially through NGO’s like the Centre for Climate Change and Environment Management (CCCEM) which are people centered and work with the concerned communities in alleviating the associated risks. Data rescue and digitization is another part that needs paying good attention to as it will help gather relevant historical weather data. Adequate documentation of historical weather data can help to increase the resilience of communities in Malawi. Stored data can help to provide climate projections which will help in proper planning and budgeting in both governmental and private sectors.  It will also be used to understand the trends in climate change and be able to draw predictive scenarios that will help decision makers decide what interventions are needed in specific areas.