International aid agencies programmes

The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) promotes Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies through the Lead Farmer Extension Approach targeting 140,000 farmers in the Northern and Central Regions. Concern Worldwide is implementing an ongoing project supported by the European Commission (ECHO), focusing on food security and aiming to benefit more than 174,000 people. With funding from the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), Concern is also supporting more than 22,000 people in Nsanje district to strengthen their ability to meet their immediate food and nutrition needs, improve livelihoods and increase resilience.

Biodiversity Conversation Initiative is working in the Northern Region of Malawi to conserve agrobiodiversity, the World Fish Centre, with an active programme of technical assistance to fisheries and aquaculture in Malawi; and Total Land Care (TLC) is assisting poor and vulnerable farmers with livelihood diversification and sustainable agriculture.

Christian Aid has been implementing the Enhancing Community Resilience Programme (ECRP), which runs until 2016 and was funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Irish Aid and the Norwegian Embassy. CARE established operations in Malawi in 1998. CARE Malawi’s programmes include food security, agriculture, health, education, and social and economic empowerment, especially for women.

The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources is implementing the “Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change in Malawi (CABMACC)”. Supported financially by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the overall goal of the programme is to improve livelihoods and food security through innovative responses and enhanced capacity for adaptation to climate change in Malawi. Its three main goals are to:

• Build capacity of Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in research and teaching for climate change mitigation and adaptation
• Develop new knowledge, technologies and systems to enhance climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Enhance capacity of the University and relevant key stakeholders in in climate change outreach and advocacy enhanced.

Concern Universal leads the Developing Innovative Solutions with Communities to Overcome Vulnerability (DISCOVER) a four-year consortium project seeking to support 900,000 rural households to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in the districts of Karonga, Salima, Dedza, Balaka and Nsanje. The Shire River Basin Management Programme Project (2012–2018) has developed a Shire River Basin planning framework and established a Shire River Basin Organisation, to improve land and water management for ecosystem and livelihood benefits in target areas. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is Shire Basin planning. This component finances development of a modern integrated Shire Basin knowledge base and analytical tools, as well as well-planned structured stakeholder consultation processes, to facilitate investment planning and systems operation. The second component of the project is catchment management. The targeted sub-catchments and protected areas are rehabilitated and managed for reduced erosion and improved livelihoods. The third component of the project is water related infrastructure.

Humanitarian Assistance - Emergency Cash Transfer Programme – Save the Children The objective of the Emergency Cash Transfer Programme is to save lives, build resilience and protect the livelihoods of food insecure individuals, including children. It covers 451,711 families that were affected by floods and drought in the previous cropping season in 33 Traditional Authorities of Kasungu, Mchinji, Dedza, Lilongwe, Machinga, Nkhotakota, Mulanje and Nsanje districts. Development of Thermal Electric Generator (TEG) Stoves. The overarching objective of the programme is to demonstrate the appropriateness of the TEG Stove technology for national rollout for rural off-grid Malawi thus greatly contributing to the energy requirement of the rural off the grid communities. This project, by TCD with Concern Universal, is for the development of a prototype and medium-scale deployment in rural Malawi with the ultimate aim for the technology of national roll-out. By providing low cost energy access with low or zero carbon emissions, this project supports climate change mitigation. This will then greatly contribute to the energy requirement for rural off-grid communities at low or net-zero carbon emissions.

Concern Universal Accelerating Uptake of Improved Cookstoves. The programme proposes to reach a target of 2 million low emission and energy efficient stoves by 2020. In addition, the project aims to provide technical support and carbon financing services to other organisations and both local and national stakeholders. As a result of the emissions saved from reduced burning of biomass in fuel efficient stoves and consequent reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, this project contributes towards climate change mitigation. Due to the reduced pressures on woodland and forests for biomass harvesting this project also contributes towards biodiversity.

Enhancing Community Resilience (ECRP) goal of the ‘Enhancing Community Resilience’ project is to help eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in Malawi, whilst enabling households to build resilient, sustainable and profitable livelihoods. The programme reduces existing and future risks caused by natural hazards and climate change and strengthens the capacity of vulnerable 14 communities to cope with current risks and adapt to new ones. ECRP aims to reach 600,000 people in eleven vulnerable districts in central and southern Malawi to build their capacity to increase resilience to climatic risks.

Strengthening Community Disaster Resilience (SCDR) programme targets 4,000 vulnerable households living in flood and drought prone areas in Chikhwawa, Malawi. It is planned to run over a period of four years and is being implemented by the Evangelical Association of Malawi. The programme aims to strengthen community-based disaster and climate change resilience through food security, livelihood diversification, environmental management and integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into policies and developmental planning. The programme is purposely situated within the Hyogo Framework for Action and uses the framework as a means to align and organise diverse activities. In terms of implementation, the programme includes specific initiatives in food security and livelihood diversification. Activities undertaken include; small scale irrigation, conservation agriculture, seed production of drought tolerant and short-cycle crops, training in conservation agriculture, establishment of community grain and seed banks, improved storage, dietary diversification, community based natural resource management committees, afforestation, non-agriculture forest activities, fuel efficient stoves, early warning systems and the training of targeted groups in flood management. Through these activities, the programme aims to strengthen community-based disaster and climate change resilience of targeted households, in addition to informing national level policy development.

Agroforestry Food Security Programme (AFSP PHASE II). The second phase of the Agroforestry Food Security Programme (AFSP II) aims to contribute towards the uptake of climate-smart agriculture in Malawi. Climate-Smart Agriculture has three main pillars: sustainable intensification that ensures food security; building resilience through climate change adaptation; and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) through agro-forestry innovations. Agro-forestry innovations are namely: 1) fertiliser trees and conservation agriculture to build an evergreen agriculture that enhances accumulation of soil organic matter thus enhancing crop productivity and resilience to climate risks; 2) fruit trees to improve household nutrition, health and income; 3) Fodder trees to improve milk yields for smallholder dairy farmers to enhance nutrition, health and income; and 4) woodlots for firewood and timber production. This project was designed, with input from government departments, to be closely aligned with Malawi’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), and the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Programme (ASWAP).

Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Support Project (ASWAP). The objectives of this Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Support Project (ASWAP) are to improve the effectiveness of investments in food security and sustainable agricultural growth and strengthen the natural resource base in agricultural lands. In order to strengthen the natural resource base, the project aims to double the area under sustainable land management as a basis for securing ecosystem services and sustainable agricultural productivity. 16 The programme supports institutional capacity building in districts for planning, agricultural policy, land administration and financial management. The programme also supports capacity building of smallholder farmers in inter alia nutrient management and conservation agriculture techniques, diversified crops including agro-forestry and expansion of farmer advisory services. It also provides support to market based agricultural risk management strategies including payment of weather derivative contracts and insurance premiums to cover agricultural production and studies on macro- and micro-weather insurance schemes. The programme supports sustainable water management such as rainwater conservation and early warning systems for droughts and floods. By supporting conservation agriculture and agro-forestry, this project protects and enhances sinks and thus contributes to climate change mitigation and combats land degradation. By supporting and researching agricultural weather-based risk management, early warning systems and sustainable water management, this project also supports long-term adaptation to climate change. Risk management and early warning systems also contribute to Disaster Risk Management. Ireland has placed particular emphasis on the integration of drought resistant legume seed, principally ground nuts, pigeon peas and beans, into the national agricultural systems, to improve soil fertility management and nutritious food production.

Sustainable Crop Production Practices in Smallholder Farming Systems, National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM). The overall objective of the project is to improve sustainable crop production, productivity and marketing through adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture principles and practices under smallholder farmer conditions in the context of climate change. Climate-smart agriculture practices can help shield farmers from the adverse effects of climate change and variability and also improve farm yields and household incomes, resulting in stronger and more resilient communities besides delivering environmental benefits. The project specifically aims at: increasing adoption of CSA practices in smallholder farming systems; promoting agricultural diversification; promoting sustainable land and water management practices; providing improved access to stable and profitable markets for legumes; and increasing adoption of energy saving technologies NASFAM describes conservation agriculture as an ecologically sound means of helping achieve food security and as resource-saving production that strives to achieve acceptable profits while simultaneously conserving the environment. Conservation agriculture contributes both to mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. Through minimal soil disturbance and maintenance of soil cover, conservation agriculture also combats land degradation. Capacity building for conservation agriculture is an important dimension of this project with training of trainers (1,500 NASFAM farmer trainers), training of 60 field officers, use of demonstration plots, development of conservation agriculture resource centres, and field days all planned. The aims of conservation agriculture, in contrast to other modern agricultural methods, are to achieve mitigation and adaptation to climate change and preservation of soil.

Rooting Out Hunger Phase II. The Rooting Out Hunger Phase II project, in collaboration with the national Root and Tuber Crops Innovation Platform (RTCIP) and other key stakeholders, aims to develop a countrywide programme to transform the production and utilisation of a number of key crops in southern Malawi. The program focuses specifically on the production and uptake of sweet potato, potato, and cassava and the expansion in the seed and production value chains of orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP). OFSP’s flexible planting times, harvest times, drought resistance and relatively short maturing period means that it is more resilient to climatic variability than others. This project aims to conduct diagnostic studies of sweet potato, potato, and cassava value chains in Malawi through identification of entry points for research and development support. Through this research, it should be possible to transform these value chains for enhanced nutrition, improved incomes and climate resilience.

Local Development Support Programme. The aim of the Local Development Support Programme, in collaboration with Concern Universal, is to contribute to a reduction in the levels of poverty and vulnerability in Malawi. The programme focuses on a number of areas including food and nutrition security; agribusiness; water and sanitation; disaster risk reduction; and cross-cutting issues including gender, environmental management, rights and capacity building. The programme supports priority activities in disaster preparedness and management plans identified in the district for Dedza, Ntcheu, Balaka, and Phalombe and to support implementation of priority activities identified in environmental outlook reports and plans. The programme supports Village Natural Resource Management Committees (VNRMCs), in the efficient use and management of natural resources and the rehabilitation and management of essential ecosystems and ecological processes. As part of this, the programme promotes soil and water conservation and management as well as sustainable agricultural practices. In addition, the programme implements important key activities highlighted in Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA).

Malawi Seed Industry Programme, ICRISAT. Improved seeds provide a package of technologies that once unlocked through agronomy, secure farmers’ livelihoods against food and nutrition insecurity and climate change. These 18 projects are an extension of, and builds on, the Malawi Seed Industry Development Project (MSIDP) whose objective was to increase smallholder crop productivity and incomes by using improved certified seed. The objectives of the extension are to strengthen (i) the seed supply chains of selected legumes and cereals; and (ii) productivity enhancing research for development.