| Overview : Malawi’s economy is reliant on agriculture, with more than 80% of the population relying on rainfed agriculture for livelihood. In the recent past, Malawi’s uncertainty has been increasing attributable to increasing climate related extremes of drought and flooding. Number of vulnerable districts to climate change has been increasing with time, from 6 in 2006 (NAPA, 2006) to 15 in 2015 (Malawi National Disaster Risk Management Policy, 2015). In 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 rainfall seasons, Malawi declared two consecutive state of national disasters both related to climate change. More floods have occurred between 2000 and 2016 than 1970 to 2000, and an example of the loss that arose from 2015/2015 floods was estimated at $494 million. An annual average of food insecure people rose from 350,000 between 2007 to 2011 to 1,700,000 over 2012-2014, and the population which was declared food insecure in 2016/2017 season was estimated at 6.5 million, which is almost one third of the population. Climate change is also affecting other sectors of the economy in Malawi; water supply, hydro electricity generation, drying of rivers and important lakes like Lake Chilwa, destruction of transport and communication infrastructure and the country is experiencing increasing humanitarian needs. Demand for climate information is paramount for development planning, and this project was designed to improve the climate information and Early Warning Systems (EWS) which was limited in the ability to monitor and forecast weather conditions, communicate warnings, respond to disasters, and plan for long-onset changes. Improving climate information and EWS components requires investment in infrastructure and technical capacity which is in a challenge particularly where national resources are limited. The project was designed to provide support in capacity building and infrastructure development that enhances appropriate planning and adjustment of farming and fishing practices respectively thereby reducing vulnerability. Similarly, flood warnings will enable local communities to move to locations of safety with their possessions, stored food and livestock. The goal of the project was to strengthen the weather, climate and hydrological monitoring capabilities, early warning systems and delivery of available information for responding to extreme weather and planning adaptation to climate change in Malawi. The project had two expected Outcomes: - Enhanced capacity of the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) and Department of Water Resources (DWR) to monitor and forecast extreme weather, hydrology and climate change.
- Efficient and effective use of hydro-meteorological and environmental information for making early warnings and long-term development plans.
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