United Against The Impact of Climate Change: The Malawian Experience

Malawi has over the past 2 years been hit by cyclones starting with cyclones Ana and Gombe in 2022 and March of 2023 respectively.

We experienced the most catastrophic cyclone Freddy which killed over a thousand people and displaced thousands of households. Families had to be housed in tents and makeshift arrangements exposing women and girls to all manner of sexual exploitation.

People would go hungry for days as food reached most of those in camps late and some whose camps were in hard-to-reach areas had to wait even longer for their food stuffs and other essentials to be airlifted by planes. We saw neighbouring countries assisting us in many ways, including food, clothing and even searching for people who were declared missing as many bodies were found buried under the sand, stones, and curves.

It was one of the most difficult and painful times Malawi has ever gone through. We saw not only neighbouring countries helping but even other countries and organizations from overseas due to the magnitude of the suffering that people went through, losing all they had and their loved ones. Some are still in camps as they wait to be relocated to safer places but it means they have to start life all over again which is no simple thing in any form or shape.

As a country, rebuilding the damage would cost millions of dollars, as many infrastructures were damaged; ranging from schools, roads, houses, and energy (electricity) infrastructure. The government estimated that as a country, we would need over 500 million dollars to rebuild the damage which Malawi alone cannot manage due to the so many challenges the country is going through economically.

These are effects of climate change and Malawi just like many other African countries is a lesser contributor to the climate change damage and yet we seem to suffer the most. We need bold and instant action from those countries contributing the most to the damage of the environment and most importantly, green and clean energy must be emphasized and implemented at all costs. We cannot continue to talk about addressing climate challenges on paper or policy yet not much work is being done on the ground. Let’s unite for climate change action.