Household Survey for Anticipatory Action in Malawi

Malawi and the rationale for Anticipatory Action

Malawi is a country that is highly exposed to climate hazards, including dry spells and floods, among others. Vulnerability is also high with a great fraction of the population dependent on rainfed agriculture for their food and income. The 2020 ND-GAIN index ranks Malawi 163 out of 182 countries, making it highly vulnerable to climate change, but lacking readiness and resilience to withstand the changes in the climate.

In-country capacities to manage climatic hazards have eroded over time, given the increasing frequency, variability, and intensity of these events. In this context, the Government of Malawi has made a commitment to break the cycle of hunger and recurring humanitarian need. This commitment is enshrined in the country’s key guiding policies and programmes, including the National Resilience Strategy.

The use of objective forecast-based triggers, along with predetermined actions and pre-arranged finance, has been integrated into the government’s priorities, driving a change in the way that risks and shocks are managed. In this context, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Country Team came together to support Anticipatory Action (AA) in-country to get ahead of predictable disasters and related humanitarian needs.

OCHA-faciliated AA in-country has focused on dry spells. The focus on dry spells is unique to the OCHA-facilitated framework. While a discrete hazard, the impact of dry spells are outsized impacts, especially when they occur in critical times of the agricultural season, making them a priority for humanitarian action. This innovative shift is intended to promote a more effective and efficient approach, by focusing on specific rainfall anomalies during exact periods of the rainfall period, which have considerable humanitarian impacts to be addressed. Due to climate change, more erratic rainfall patterns are expected, and these of rainfall anomalies offer a great learning experience on how to respond to these damaging trends that are due to increase in frequency and intensity

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs