Implementing adaptation priorities through national development plans in Malawi

Project Overview

Extreme weather events have adversely impacted Malawi’s food security, water security, energy supply, infrastructure, human health and the sustainable livelihoods of family households. Further, the unsustainable use of natural resource costs Malawi USD191 million or 5.3% of GDP every year with the resulting forest cover in the country decreasing from 41% in 1990 to 35% in 2008.

This GEF-LDCF funded project, Implementing urgent adaptation priorities through strengthened decentralized and national development plans in Malawi, therefore looks at mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into sustainable development policies and planning processes at all levels of government, while establishing an effective system to identify, assess and monitor disaster risks including early warning systems in the country.

Project Details

 

(More Information to come)

Thematic areas: 
Climate-related hazards addressed: 
Level of intervention: 
Key collaborators: 
Implementing agencies and partnering organizations: 
Ministry of Development Planning and Cooperation, Government of Malawi
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Project status: 
Completed
Financing amount: 
$4,950,000
Co-financing total: 
$15,500,000

News

Supporting communities in climate change adaptation activities in Malawi

UNDP
Monday 6 August 2018

It cannot be debated that in Malawi, the livelihood of many people is heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture. However, in recent years, the adverse impacts of Climate Change have been making the agriculture sector vulnerable. With the prolonged dry spells, seasonal droughts, changes in rainfall patterns and floods characterising the rainy seasons; these climate Change effects have been posing a serious risk to the productivity and profitability of crop farming in the country. To mitigate these challenges, UNDP in Malawi has been working hand in hand with the Government of Malawi to map pathways aimed at building resilient communities and minimize disruptions from climate disasters that affect everyday life and the local economy. The Government of Malawi - through the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, with support from UNDP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Countries Fund - is implementing a project in 3 districts namely; Nkata-bay, Zomba and Ntcheu, to support the implementation of adaptation priorities through strengthened, decentralized and national development. The project aims at establishing and then demonstrate the institutional framework required to mainstream climate resilience and adaptation into development planning at local and national levels.

 

Key Results and Outputs

 

The project has 3 primary components with associated outcomes –

  1. Integrated adaptation planning at District and Provincial levels including institutional analysis to determine CCA expenditures and CCA expenditure gaps within District level budgets (Outcome 1.1); Professional training on climate change integration in local development planning, policies (Outcome 1.2); Participatory assessments on vulnerability and adaptation to prioritize community CCA measures (Outcome 1.3); Community meetings to develop district-level disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation plans for 4 vulnerable districts (Outcome 1.4); Integration of CCA priorities into the District Development Plans and budgets, and Local Council annual investment plans (Outcome 1.5); Integration of CCA resilience principles, priorities and role definition into development of district policies and regulations (Output 1.6); Integration of CCA resilience principles into results based management training undertaken in UNDP-supported governance programmes (Output 1.7); Addition of CCA vulnerability/CCA resilience indicators to district level databanks (developed in UNDP-supported governance programmes) for planning purposes (Output 1.8) and; Development of an incentive plan to support the effective deployment of roles and responsibilities (Output 1.9)
  2. Implementing urgent adaptation measures through decentralized planning processes including baseline rural development investments adjusted to become resilient to climate change (Output 2.1); Implementation of adaptation measures defined by communities during the development of the District-level adaptation plans to promote drought and flood management and climate resilience (Output 2.2); Provision of technical training and other support as defined by communities to implement the CCA plans sustainably (Output 2.3) and; Provision and use of weather forecast information on short timescales to manage risks to their livelihoods (Output 2.4).
  3. Implementing urgent adaptation measures through support to climate change policy processes and development of regulatory and fiscal frameworks at national level. This will include adjusting of budget preparation guidelines issued by Ministry of Finance to include climate change adaptation (Output 3.1); Training of 100 technical staff and managers in 5 relevant ministries to facilitate the investment plan development process (Output 3.2); Development of economic costing of adaptation priorities, based on public expenditure review and gap analysis (Output 3.3); Setting up of support programme for climate change adaptation costing work (Output 3.4); Integration of adaptation costing into a national, multi-sector adaptation investment plan (Output 3.5); Incorporation of adaptation investment priorities into the spending plans in 3 relevant ministries by 2014 (Output 3.6) and; Creation of regulatory and fiscal incentives to stimulate climate risk reduction by the non-government sector identified for three priority sectors (Output 3.7).

Programme Meetings and Workshops

 

(More Information to come)

Reports and Publications

PIFs

Malawi – LDCF Project Identification Form

Monitoring and Evaluation

 

(More Information to come)

Contacts

UNDP
Jessica Troni
Regional Technical Advisor