Malawi is a country strongly affected by the impact of extreme events, exacerbated by rapid population growth and urbanization: over the past few years, it has been hit several times by floods and droughts, both of which are influenced by climate change and are particularly damaging for a country whose economy is closely linked to agriculture.
In this context, a multi-risk assessment is currently lacking at the national level, while it is available only at the local level in some districts. Therefore, the project consortium intends to produce, for the first time, hazard and risk maps on a national level with a level of detail useful also at provincial level, using a probabilistic risk assessment approach, both for single hazards and for multi-hazard conditions (extreme winds and precipitation, earthquakes, landslides, river floods). The project is funded by Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Malawi.
How does the project work?
In line with the guidelines of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the multi-hazard probabilistic assessment carried out within the project provides risk estimates for both the most probable and frequent events, as well as for rare ones; at the same time, it allows for the analysis of events that have never been observed, but may occur in the future, which is of particular importance considering the uncertainty caused by climate change. The assessment will consider risks under current climate conditions as well as future conditions (2050-2100) under different climate change scenarios.
For the realisation of the multi-risk assessment, the project partners will work closely with local stakeholders at all stages of the development, from data collection to the creation of the Risk Atlas and the Risk Information Web Platform, two tools that will collect information from the assessment and will make it easier to communicate and understand, thus following a capacity development approach that combines knowledge development with knowledge transfer.
In addition, the partners will develop, again in collaboration with local stakeholders, a sustainability plan containing recommendations for maintaining and updating risk information, supporting the management, updating and accessibility of Malawi’s risk information by national and local authorities.
What are the expected results?
- A report on the methodology for risk assessment
- An hazard assessment considering all possible hazard scenarios
- A GIS database on exposure and vulnerability
- A report on various vulnerability profiles
- The production of multi-risk atlases and a dissemination web platform
- The organisation of several workshops for different stakeholders at different levels
- The creation of training modules and a final training report
- The production of a detailed technical report on the multi-risk assessment at national level
CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution
CIMA Research Foundation is the coordinating partner of the project and is therefore responsible for general supervision and monitoring of the progress of activities, ensuring that deadlines are met, and for internal coordination. CIMA is also responsible for the risk assessment on floods, droughts and severe weather events.
