Malawi—Climate Just Communities: Malawi

Climate justice is a people-centered, human rights-based approach that aims to share the benefits of equitable global development and the burdens of climate change fairly while building trust between countries. It recognizes that the poor and vulnerable are the first to be affected by climate change—exacerbating existing inequalities—and suffer the most, despite having done little or nothing to cause the problem. The approach builds upon three pillars—distributive justice, procedural justice, and transformative justice, and ensures that local understanding and participatory design are central to delivering highly relevant and sustainable programs.

DAI’s Climate Just Communities (CJC) Malawi project forms part of a flagship program under the Scottish Government’s Climate Justice Fund, which uses this approach to support locally led community projects in Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. Currently, 92 percent of Malawians rely on rain-fed sources of water, which are heavily impacted by floods and droughts. With rising temperatures around the globe, there is an increased risk of drought and late onset of rains affecting food production in the country. The increase in extreme climate events also leaves vulnerable populations at greater risk from cyclones such as Freddy in 2023 with more than 500,000 people displaced and 500 confirmed deaths. CJC Malawi uses a participatory approach to developing and delivering climate justice interventions that build community resilience to the material and social effects of climate change.

DAI’s delivery partners are IIED, LINK Education, LINK Community Development, Water Witness International, and Water Witness Malawi.

Sample Activities

• Conduct a needs assessment to identify relevant government (national and local) priorities and an assessment of the current donor landscape to ensure interventions align with and complement existing activities and strategic priorities.
• Establish an advisory steering group that consists of partner country and local government representatives.
• Develop a program delivery plan to meet CJC objectives with tailored interventions for marginalized populations in climate-vulnerable communities.
• Collaborate with the two other lots to contribute to the Climate Justice Fund’s wider theory of change.

Select Results

• With partner Water Witness, collaborated with local authorities to undertake a shock chlorination process to disinfect the contaminated water. As a result, 25 boreholes now provide safe, drinkable water for 1,750 households (9,625 people).
• 30 Village Natural Resource Management Committees that were not functioning were re-established through new committees.
• In collaboration with the Machinga District Council Office of Disaster Risk Management, 22 disaster management plans were developed.
• 4,157 households in targeted communities engaged in irrigation farming through winter cropping to secure their livelihood.
• 98 Lead Farmers trained on conservation farming in Karonga and Neno districts.
• 157 Community Village and Savings Loans groups mobilised, and 2,954 community members trained on VSL approaches (Zomba, Karonga).
• 4,059 community members were reached through gender and human rights awareness campaigns in Zomba.