Another ‘harsh’ rainy season looms
Malawians should brace for another harsh rainy season ahead as the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has forecasted La-Niña weather conditions in the forthcoming rain season.
La Niña weather phenomenon is associated with cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures that affect global weather patterns, with one to impact Malawi being increased moisture over southern Africa.
The forecast has also been corroborated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) which in its forecast released on July 23 2024 cautioned that between November 2024 and April 2025, some parts of the country will experience La Niña.
“Forecasted La Niña conditions are projected to result in above-average rainfall with floods predicted in many of the drought-affected districts during the November 2024 to April 2025 rainy season,” reads the forecast contained in The Malawi Drought Flash Appeal July 2024-April 2025 published on www.unocha.org.
It further suggests that rainfall will be suppressed mostly over the country’s Northern Region while the Southern Region will receive relatively better rainfall.
The weather forecast comes at a time some Malawians, particularly farmers in the Southern Region are still reeling under the negative impact of El Niño and Cyclone Freddy that affected crop production in the last growing season.
In an interview yesterday, Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula said the department has already started preparing for the La Niña weather condition, particularly in the disaster-prone areas.
He said among others, Dodma is planning to construct two dykes along North Rukuru River in Rumphi and Milole River in the Shire River East Bank bordering Chikwawa and Nsanje districts.
Said Khamula: “We already installed what we call community-based floods early warning systems in flood-prone areas and we already put in place search and rescue equipment such as boats.
“On top of that, we have also a 41 000-litre fuel tank where we will be keeping fuel in advance because in 2022, when we were affected by Cyclone Ana, most roads were damaged, affecting the delivery of essential services due to fuel shortages.”
He further stated that the department has also constructed a hostel at Bangula in Nsanje to host humanitarian workers during the disasters.
The forecast also comes against the background of President Lazarus Chakwera’s declaration in March this year of a State of Disaster in 23 of the country’s 28 districts.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee projected that 5.7 million people, representing 28 percent of the population, will face hunger from October this year.
Commenting on the matter, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resource agricultural economics Horace Phiri asked both authorities and farmers to make use of weather notices.
He noted that the weather forecasts are important as they guide farmers on what type of crops need to be planted at that particular weather.
Said Phiri: “We have all seen what happened last year and we have also seen how accurate the predictions are these days. So it’s important that going forward-including this season we should learn to make use of the information to our advantage.”
In April this year, Dodma indicated that Malawi lost $1.19 billion (about K2.1 trillion) to disasters between 2015 and 2023.
Dodma deputy director (recovery) Fedson Chikuse is on record, as having said the recovery cost is estimated at $1.70 billion (about K2.9 trillion), mostly to support the affected families with relief items and renovation of destroyed infrastructure.
In March last year, the country experienced Cyclone Freddy, the worst tropical cyclone on record which negatively affected people’s lives, livelihoods, and the country’s socioeconomic infrastructure, pushing more people into poverty.
In total, an estimated 2 267 458 people in 16 districts were directly affected, including 659 278 people who were displaced (336,252 female; 323,026 male), 679 killed, and over 530 declared missing by mid-March 2023.
