The Government of Malawi, with the support from UNDP, has secured funding from the Green Climate Fund to scale up the use of modernized early warning systems (EWS) and climate information in the country. The project will work with communities in disaster prone and food-insecure districts to co-develop tailored weather- and climate-based agricultural advisories to be disseminated through ICT/mobile, print and radio channels. The project will also scale up best practices in community readiness to respond to disasters and mitigate key risks. Community-based EWS will be scaled up in flood-prone areas and capacities to use and respond to warnings will be strengthened at the national, district and community levels.

The project is being implemented in 21 districts by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA), in collaboration with the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS), Department of Water Resources (DWR), Department of Agricultural Extension Services (DAES), Department of Fisheries (DoF), and the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM).

The project has three expected outputs;

1. Expansion of observation networks that generate climate-related data to save lives and safeguard livelihoods from extreme climate events
2. Development and dissemination of products and platforms for climate-related information/services for vulnerable communities and livelihoods
3. Strengthening communities’ capacities for use of EWS/CI in preparedness for response to climate related disasters

One of the objectives of the project is to develop and disseminate tailored warnings and advisories for fishing communities to reduce their vulnerability to climate induced weather patterns.  Fishing remains a dangerous occupation in Malawi and fishers are at a high risk of maritime accidents.   Fishermen use dugout canoes for fishing that contribute to 90% of the catch, are usually designed for inshore fishing. Over the years, due to depletion of inshore fishing stocks fishers are venturing further offshore to catch fish at the expense of their safety.  This practice has exposed fishers to offshore extreme weather.  Cases of accidents are on the rise especially during strong mwera and mpoto winds. Fishermen using dugout canoes are at a higher risk to extreme weather events as their fishing crafts are not designed to withstand strong winds. Currently fishers receive general forecasts issued by DCCMS, which is a daily forecast of expected general weather but these messages are not location specific and tailored to the needs of fishermen. The information on extreme weather conditions in around Lake Malawi is not adequate and suitable for planning fishing activities, especially for the majority of fishermen who operate from dugout canoes.   The project intends to establish a system to generate and disseminate early messages for safety at sea and weather advisories targeted to fishers, fish processors and fish traders in the targeted areas, build capacities of relevant staff to package and disseminate the information to the targeted communities and raise awareness of end users in the use of information for responsive action and planning.  In the above context, UNDP Malawi Country Office currently seeks to hire a consultancy firm to assess weather/climate information needs and develop tailored climate/weather messages and advisories for fishers, fish Processors and fish Traders in Mangochi, Salima, Nkhotakota and Nkhatabay