The study was carried to examine the role of local institutions in climate change adaptation in Salima district of Malawi. The impetus of the study is an analysis of several NAPAs including that of Malawi by Agrawal that revealed gaps in management arrangements of climate change programmes which emphasized the role of external institutions at the expense of local institutions.
The study was undertaken in Salima district in the central region of Malawi. The study had three objectives which it set out to achieve which are: to examine climate hazards and adaptation strategies being implemented in Salima district; to analyze the nature of both local and external institutions and the role they play in supporting climate change adaptation efforts in the district; and to develop an institutional linkage framework to enhance information flow and coordination between these institutions. The first two objectives have been met and the findings are outlined in chapter 4, while the third and last objective of developing an institutional linkage framework, is set out in this chapter as a recommendation.
Five research questions were used to address the research objectives. The research questions were as follows: which climatic hazards have affected Salima district, what adaptation strategies are currently being implemented in response to these climatic hazards, what type(s) of local institutions are available in the district that support climate change adaptation and what are their role(s), what type(s) of external institutions are available in the district that support climate change adaptation and what are their role(s), and what are the linkages between these institutions?
The key findings of the study are that the major climatic events that are affecting Salima district are floods, droughts, dry spells and hailstorms. These climatic events started manifesting themselves in Salima district some 15-20 years ago and recently they have increased in frequency and magnitude.
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For community respondents the causes of these climatic events are local and are linked to deforestation being experienced in most communities in the district. The resultant effects are low crop yield or total crop failure leading to food shortages, hunger and malnutrition especially among the elderly, women and children; destruction of property including houses and livestock, internal displacement of people, disruption of livelihoods, loss of life, increased incidences of diseases such as malaria, cholera and diarrhea, drying up of water bodies leading to water scarcity, environmental degradation and family breakdown.
The study also found out that the main climate change adaptation strategies being implemented in Salima district to enable vulnerable communities adapt to these climatic events include irrigation agriculture, crop diversification, livelihood diversification (on-farm and off-farm activities), mixed/integrated farming (integration of crops and livestock), changes in tillage practices (conservation farming), wetlands cultivation, re-afforestation, changing planting dates and establishment of grain banks.
The study also found out that several institutions, mostly public and civic which are formal in nature, are supporting communities in Salima district to build the resilience of affected communities to cope with these climatic events, with few development partners providing technical and financial support. The community analysis revealed that at community level climate change adaptation programmes are being implemented by existing formal community local government governance structures although sometimes they are by-passed by district level institutions, especially NGOs, when implementing activities. In addition, they lack capacity because they have not been properly trained. The study observed that there are no private institutions supporting climate change programmes in Salima district and that the involvement of informal CBOs in climate change programmes is also non-existent.
Coordination of climate change is through the government structures at national, district and community levels, even though there are weaknesses in coordination, especially between national and district level institutions. The weak coordination between national and district institutions is as a result of lack of operational guidelines indicating which office at the district council is responsible for managing climate change programmes and how the national and district level institutions will be linked.
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Similarly the community level analysis revealed weak coordination between district and community structures. This is as a result of lack of training on the role of community local government governance structures, especially the ADC and the VDC, and the by-passing of these structures by some district level institutions, especially NGOs, when implementing climate change activities. Where they recognize such institutions the focus is on lower level community local government governance structures such as the sectoral village committee.
As regards to knowledge related to climate change management structures, both the district and the community analysis revealed „knowledge gaps‟ as to which government institution is responsible for managing the climate change adaptation programme, especially at national level. Further the study found out that policies and strategic frameworks supporting climate change are available, but they lack dissemination especially at district and community level, as evidenced by lack of knowledge by most district respondents, especially NGOs and community respondents related to these policies and strategic frameworks.