Information and Advocacy

The Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA) in Malawi works as an advocacy institution, lobbying for environmental legislation and national policies on climate change and disaster risk reduction. Equally important is CEPA's work in different sectors of civil society to heighten awareness of the causes and impacts of climate change, and of climate change adaptation strategies.

A crucial part of CEPA's lobbying work is conveying the experiences of local communities to government bodies: how are communities being affected by climate change, and what lessons have they learnt through adapting to the changing conditions? By answering these questions, they hope to encourage policy makers to provide necessary support to the communities affected by - and adapting to - climate change.

Increasing Problems Require Action on a National Level: William Chadza, CEPA's executive director, has visited villages all over Malawi and seen the effects and consequences of changing weather patterns: "Local organisations are initiating and organising many effective measures in response to the changing climate, but growing environmental problems are constraining these efforts," he says.

The most obvious effect of climate change in Malawi is the increased frequency of floods and droughts. There are also obvious changes in rainfall patterns. "In January 2008, the village of Magana in Salima district on the shores of Lake Malawi was struck by a flood that destroyed most of the newly planted crops," says William. "After the flood receded, new crops were planted but these crops never matured, because the rainy season stopped very early. Even after climate changes had started negatively affecting food production, many areas could rely on the dimba gardens [low-lying land areas which gather moisture and therefore are good for gardening in the dry season] to produce some food. Now, in some areas like the lower Shire, even the dimba gardens are not moist enough for crops to mature in the dry periods.

"If we wish to do more than just adapt to the changes, if we are to take preventive actions to reduce the effects of climate change in the long run, we need a national policy, national coordination and higher compliance to environmental legislation. A national policy would make it easier to regulate and implement climate change actions at national, district and local levels."

Interconnected Problems: CEPA is concerned that the effects of climate change are being accelerated by the unsustainable exploitation of Malawi's natural resources: "Our thinking is that, if there is sustainable management of natural resources, to a certain extent, the most serious and immediate effects of climate change can be prevented. For example, if we are able to maintain enough trees and vegetation to check running water from heavy rains, the consequences of flooding will be less devastating and probably affect smaller areas.

"Poverty is another serious hindrance to the implementation of adaptation measures locally. Lack of education, malnutrition, and lack of economic resources all limit people's ability to find and put into effect new technology and methods. It is important that this factor is addressed as a part of the overall strategy of dealing with climate change."

Building a Stronger Environmental Movement: In Malawi, environmental movements are still in the early stages of development. "We notice that civil society organisations in general have only been working together on an ad hoc basis to address a specific and urgent issue. Now there are some efforts to exchange information and views on a more regular basis in order to strengthen their ability to influence public opinion and policy making."

According to William, one of the major challenges is going to be lobbying for finances for climate change adaptation, both nationally and at the international level. "I think that policy makers from the North have a lot of influence in terms of outcomes from international negotiations. As they negotiate, they should make sure that the outcomes and agreements that are made take into account the interest of communities in least developed countries who are being affected by climate change.

"Most of the results of climate change management interventions are likely to come in the long term rather than short term. Most development partners are unlikely to be willing to fund projects where the return is on a long-term basis, although these are the projects likely to be more sustainable. In dealing with climate change, I don't think short-term efforts will be able to address the problems."

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