Plan International Malawi Country Strategy
Plan Malawi Country Strategy contributes to Plan International’s global vision: “Girls and young women are agents of sustainable change in an inclusive, safe…
El Nino humanitarian crisis, drought response
How is Plan International responding to drought in Malawi?
Several years of ruined harvests in Malawi have resulted in agricultural devastation and widespread food insecurity. With a state of disaster declared in 23 districts, urgent response is needed to aid affected communities.
In Malawi, where agriculture is vital to both the economy and the livelihoods of its people, several consecutive years of ruined harvests have resulted in severe agricultural devastation and widespread food insecurity.
In February 2023 Cyclone Freddy dropped 6 months of rain in Malawi in 6 days, destroying that year’s crops and farms and taking the 2022 harvest with it. Now, the nation faces another ruined harvest due to El Nino induced droughts during the 2023/2024 crop cycle.
The Malawi President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, has declared a state of disaster in 23 out of the country’s 28 districts, following these El Nino dry spells which have caused widespread hunger in the districts.
Approximately 2 million farming households across the nation (50% of Malawi’s population) have been affected by the disaster.
Plan Malawi is working with communities to respond to the ongoing drought both through the provision of immediate aid and the development of long-term solutions, so communities can build resilience against future droughts and ongoing climate change.
What are the immediate drought response priorities?
- Food aid: We are providing immediate food aid to address urgent need and prevent starvation, especially among school children to reduce school absence and dropouts.
- Winter crops: We are supporting communities by delivering emergency agricultural assistance to farmers, providing early maturing seeds with winter crop cultivation as a priority.
- Training in resilient farming: We are offering training in drought-resistant farming techniques and crop diversification so communities can build resilience against future droughts.
- Livelihood support: We are implementing programmes that help affected communities generate an income, thereby combating hunger and reducing the risk of teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
- Mobilising resources: We are pooling resources to provide emergency relief and long-term resilience programmes.
- Nutrition programmes: We are launching initiatives to tackle malnutrition and prevent diseases associated with drought, such as diarrhoea and respiratory infections.
How is Plan Malawi working with others to achieve these goals?
Plan Malawi is working together with entire communities, government bodies, UN agencies, NGOs, and local authorities to address the drought crisis.
We are doing this by developing task forces, sharing crucial data on drought situations, conducting joint needs assessments and developing interagency monitoring plans.
We coordinate fundraising efforts with other organisations to avoid duplication and maximise the effectiveness and reach of drought response activities.
We involve affected communities in decision-making processes and response planning and activities, to ensure our responses are culturally appropriate and adapted to meet the individual needs of communities and locations. It is through these processes that winter cropping and providing agricultural assistance via early maturing seeds was identified as a priority.
How is Plan Malawi supporting communities to become drought resilient?
We are supporting communities to:
- Diversify their livelihoods: We are supporting communities to explore alternative income sources beyond agriculture, such as small-scale businesses and livestock rearing.
- Develop climate-resilient practices: By promoting sustainable agricultural techniques and drought-resistant crop varieties to maintain food sources in times of drought.
- Strengthen early warning systems: We are collaborating with communities to assess risks, provide training on early climate related warning signs and share alerts through channels like community radios, ensuring all community groups can prepare and respond during climate related emergencies.
- Make decision-making inclusive: By creating opportunities for everyone across societies – including marginalised groups – to take part in and develop resilience-building initiatives based on their needs.
- Provide assistance to vulnerable groups: Such as women, children (especially girls), the elderly, and disabled individuals, by assessing their specific needs and tailoring assistance programmes accordingly.
- Have the most effective programmes possible: As an organisation we monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our programmes and use this information to adapt and improve our programmes and initiatives.
Plan Malawi’s drought response targets
We aim to provide aid and assistance to:
- 67,989 households
- 300,952 people
- 81,859 girls
- 76,012 boys
- 70,164 women
- 64,317 men.
The funds needed to meet these targets – 1,724,603 EURO.
We continue to look for funding as more aid is needed if we are going to meet emergency food aid targets, including in schools.
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