Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc) has commended various stakeholders for responding positively to issues of disasters and risk management financing.
The development comes at a time when the frequency and magnitude of disasters in Malawi has for the past 10 years increased, with many people losing their lives while some have been left homeless.
Cisonecc national coordinator Julius Ng’oma said in an interview that time has come for stakeholders to intensify their efforts on how best disaster management in terms of response and preparedness can be financed.
He said: “We are now focusing on joining hands as stakeholders and come up with ways on how we can highlight issues of financing towards disaster risk management.
“What we want is for the players to take part in either disaster planning or response and not only wait for the government to react when the uncertainty happens.”
Director of climate change and meteorological services Jolamu Nkhokwe said there is a need to enhance early warning systems in the country as one way of dealing with climate change shocks.
He said: “Lack of adequate finance and human resources has made it hard for Malawi to foretell what happens when it comes to weather changes.
“Our district councils do not have well trained meteorologists who could help provide the masses with the best information and we need to invest in such programmes if we are to be ready for disasters.”
Among others disaster risk management and response also incorporates the issue of weather index insurance where farmers are supposed to insure their crops.
Insurance Association of Malawi representative Master Mbale said for a while now other farmers in selected districts have been benefiting from climate change drought insurance.
He said: “The major problem that we have now is on how to reach out to more farmers in the rural areas. This is because we want them to fully understand what weather index insurance is and how they can get their crops insured in case of a disaster.”
