Climate Change adaptation practices for two communities in Southern Malawi

Abstract

Climate change has caused extreme weather events such as frequent droughts, floods, heat and cold waves.  Farmers and communities lack contextualized information on adaptation to climate change, however, farmers and extension workers need to understand causes of weather disruptions and strengthen their adaptation and coping mechanisms. The study assessed the climate change adaptation practices adopted by 92 households in Chikhwawa and Nsanje districts of Southern Malawi.  A household survey was conducted in two villages in Chikhwawa and three villages in Nsanje District.  The communities were practising conservation of catchment areas, construction of dykes, growing of drought-tolerant crops and early maturing varieties. Thus irrigation agriculture, winter cropping, crop diversification and growing of drought tolerant crops are adopted to improve survival and productivity of crops.  Improved tillage practices to conserve moisture and soil including conservation tillage, planting of vetiver grass, crop residue management and ridge alignment and better crop husbandry practices including agroforestry technology are being practiced. Coping mechanisms to climate change impacts include sale of livestock, taking up casual labour and migration to other sites. The communities use indigenous knowledge to forecast early indicators of weather changes mostly using changes in the animal and plant behaviour and astronomical features.

Keywords: Adaptation, Climate change, Climate refugees, Coping mechanisms, Indigenous knowledge