climate variability and change in malawi

8/8/2019 Climate variability and change in Malawi

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Application Form

START 2009 Call for Pre-Proposalsfor grants in support of one year of research related to

global environmental change in Africa

Project Title: Climate variability and change in Malawi: Encouraging sustainable small scalefarming in the Lower Shire Valley in the context of agricultural practice reforms with respect toclimate change. A case study of Konzere and Mwananjovu

Principal Investigators Name and Title:CHARLES LANGTON VANYA, MR.Institutional Affiliation: SENIOR METEOROLOGIST(WEATHER AND CLIMATE PREDICTIONS)Address: METEOROLOGICAL HEADQUARTERS, BOX 1808,BLANTYRE,MALAWITelephone: 265-9-380 545; 265-1-822 106Fax: 265-1-822 215Email: [email protected]

Are you a current or past START Award recipient? YES/NO; if YES provide details:N/AAre you currently seeking other funding from START? YES/NO; if YES provide details:N/A

The proposed research will address which of the following goals for global environmental changeresearch? (Mark one or more boxes.)

Improve knowledge of the Earths past andpresent climate and environment, including itsnatural variability, and improve understandingof the causes of observed variability and change.

Improve quantification of the forces bringingabout changes in the Earths climate and related

systems.Reduce uncertainty in projections of how the

Earths climate and related systems may changein the future.

Understand the sensitivity and adaptability ofdifferent natural and managed ecosystems andhuman systems to climate and related globalchanges.

Assess impacts, adaptation and riskmanagement strategies related to climatevariability and change

Proposed requested amount from START during 2009: US$13,550.00Funding from Other Sources: US$IN KINDTotal project funding: US$13,550.00

Submission: After completing the information on this page, please prepare a Pre-Proposal by filling in the spacesbeginning on page 2. Total length (Including this page) is not to exceed four (4) pages including the budget.

Submit as a single email attachment (MSWord is the preferred format) to:[email protected]

Please create a file name for your Pre-Proposal using the name of the Principal Investigator in capital letters as noted

in the following example:MASEKELA_2009_Africa_Pre-Proposal.doc

Inquiries about the application process and submission can be directed to:International START Secretariat:2000 Florida Ave. NW, Suite 200Washington, DC 20009 USATel: +202-462-2213Fax: +202-457-5859Attn: Skip KauffmanEmail:[email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Due date: midnight (24:00) US Eastern Time on Friday, 15 August 2008.

2009 Pre-Proposal START African Small Grants

PI Name and Title: CHARLES LANGTON VANYA (SENIOR METEOROLOGIST)

Project Title: Climate variability and change in Malawi: Encouraging sustainable small scalefarming in Lower Shire Valley in the context of agricultural practice reforms with respect to

climate change. A case study of Konzere and Mwananjovu villages.

Proposed Research: Describe the proposed research project with special emphasis on the portion of theproject that might be supported by START (Maximum length: 500 words)

Extreme climatic events (variations in season and weather patterns) ranging from severe

drought conditions to extreme flood events have been on the increase in Malawi. Notably werethe droughts of 1991/92 and 2004/2005 and flooding of 1956, 1967, 1976, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996,

2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. During the flood year of 1996/97, some parts of the extreme

north of the country experienced severe drought. These events have negative effect on theplanting dates as they vary from year to year due to climate change andvariability. When thevariation is extreme, it seriously affect the agricultural productions and socio-economical status

of the people in general and the vunerable local scale farmers in particuler as most of theaffected groups are mostly children, women and the elderly as they totally depend on

agriculture for subsistence and income generation. Considering that 90% of the people ofMalawi, mainly the poor-rural communities (farm families) are predominantly engaged in

subsistence rain-fed agriculture, which periodically gets affected by dry spells, particularlyduring early January. Therefore, information on the statistically developed probabilities of dry

spells occurring at particular stages during the growing season is very vital to local small scalefarmers for decision making in their agricultural production. This type of information may be

obtained from the Meteorological Department and transmitted to farmers through theagricultural advisors. Most cereal crops, which are the main staple foods crop in the Shire

valley, requires sufficient moisture during their critical stages. For example flowering of maize

crop usually takes place during the months of January and February the months mostvulnerable to dry spells. Rainfall in these particular months varies from year to year. The

occurrence of dry spells during this period can have a negative effect on crop production.

Erratic rains have resulted in yearly acute crop failure in the area despite the increase in farminputs such as fertilizers and combined efforts to improve seasonal weather forecasting at the

beginning of the rainy season. In addition, there is clear evidence that the rainfall pattern overShire Valley is changing with onset shifting towards the middle of the season. This implies that

even though the rainfall amount is the same, more rains fell within a shorter period than

spreading out in the growing season. Therefore ,the wished-for project addresses one of the corechallenges highlighted by the Governments Malawi Growth and Development Strategy(MGDS) 20062011 while fostering the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs1, 3,4 and 7)

which aims at eradicating hunger in Malawi through fostering sustainable economic growthand the creasing up with fair and un-biased distribution. The strategy recognizes that medium

term growth can be driven by agricultural development through the expansion and diversifyingproduction techniques which include the use of climate change information. To chieve this the

project seek to improve the capacity of the Meteorological Services in the production of climate

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information to suite the local scale farming in the area through the analysis the areal climateinformation.

Ties to goals for climate change research: Describe how this proposal will contribute to the goals forglobal environmental change research. (Maximum length: 250 words)

Purpose of this project proposal is to enable small scale farmers around Mwananjovu and

Konzere areas to better manage risks and opportunities associated with climate change and

variability through evaluating and demonstrating the potential and impact of climatic forecasts.To enable farmers to plan and perform more effectively while at the same time fostering the

value of using information on climatically induced droughts and potential climate changes in along term. The use of the existing agricultural structures such as farm clubs would help in the

capacity building of small-scale farmers through participatory approach thereby enhancing use

of climate information and products. This would help to build the capacity of institutionalstructures, particularly the meteorological and agriculture services to effectively use climate

data in agricultural development with an aim of helping the sustainability of the local small-scale farmers. The project will result in meaningful methods of evaluating and demonstrating

the effects of climate variability, cropping patterns and cultivation practices in Malawipartucularly around Mwananjovu and Konzere. Such improved climate information use will

result in improved capability to assess crop failure hazard, effectiveness of climate applicationto farming practices and prioritize intervention strategies. The assessment and awareness

campaign would increase the use of climatic information and assist the Meteorological servicein the capacity building which would target users. Therefore this project therefore adresses

the core issue posed by the objectives of global change resaerch (MGDS) while fostering the(MDGs) which aims at eradicating hunger through fostering economical growth

Capacity Building: Describe how the project will build capacity at African institutions and for scientistswho conduct global change research. (Maximum length: 150 words)

It is expected through this project that using the existing structures, agriculture field officers

would be trained in basic skills required to analyse , interpret and use climate information intoagricultural extension message for their areas, together with their supervisory staff, especially

the District Agriculture Development Officer (DADO). One distinct advantage of involving theDADO would be replication to other Agricultural Etenstion Planning Areas(AEPA) upon

successful implementation in the impact areas. Through this collaboration, there will be sharing

of knowledge, skill and information with the Ministry of agriculture through their fieldagricultural advisers at EPA/Agricultural Development Divisions(ADDs). Finally,

improvements in the understanding of the application of climate information will be

communicated to Ministry of Agriculture and Parliamentary committee on Agriculture so thatpolicy and decision makers will be in a position to benefit from the outcome of this pilot

project.

International Collaboration: Describe how the project will foster international collaboration. (Maximumlength: 150 words)

this project will foster the government effeort in reducing hnuder thereby by assisting Malawi'sreliance on food aid from international agencies like World Food Program, World bank and

others non governmental agencies (e.g. Care Malawi,ActionAid, and World Vision) who arehelping farmers to breed livestock in the areas as means of curbing the climate change and

variability impacts on the livelihoods of the poor small scale farmers .

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Collaborators: Provide a list with the name of each participating investigator and collaborator includingtitle, name and institutional affiliation. (Maximum length: 150 words)

1.INSTITUITE: CHIKWAWA DISTRICT ASSEMBLY

INVESTIGATOR: MR B.J. MACHEKA DISTRICT DISSSATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER,PRIVATE BAG 1 CHIKWAWA, MALAWI. TEL:265-9-052 394 FAX:265-1-420 014

2.INSTITUTE: SHIRE VALLEY AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

INVESTIGATOR I : MR.TONNEX DICKSON DISTRICT AGRICULTURALDEVELOPMENT OFFICER ADDRESS: DOLO EPA, BOX 1 NGABU, MALAWI

INVESTIGATOTOR II:MR. M.A .MANYOZO COMMPUTER OPEARATORPRIVATE BAG1 NGABU, MALAWI TEL:265-1-427 276 Email: [email protected]

OTHER COLLABORATIONG PARTNERS:

VILLAGE GROUP LEADERS (VGH) and SUB-TRADITIONAL AUTHOURITY (STA)

Links To Decision Making: Provide an explanation of how the project will contribute to decision-makingfor policy makers and others. (Maximum length: 150 words)

Lack of capacity and skills to adapt to climate change and variability strategies are attributed

to non existing policies to support the local communities in the mitigation of impacts broughtabout by the changes and variation in climate . Therefore upon successful implementation ofthis poroject at field level, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture would be invited for lesson

sharing on how climatic data analysis would aid farmers decisions on their farming activities.Different climatic products would be at display offering a wider choice of decision tools that

farmers would use in planning their activities. This is expected to increase awareness of the roleof Met Departments in enhancing food security at both national and household level. Increase

in awareness by parliamentarians would lead to lobbying for more funding towards thecountrys Meteorological Department and increased need for finding new crop varities that are

drought torrerant and matures early.

Budget: Provide an estimation of a proposed expenses using the table below. Please indicate how youintend to spend funds by category. (You do not need to fill in each box.)

Proposed Expenses (US$)

Personnel 2000.00

Equipment 1200.00

Travel 1500.00

Other Direct Costs:

Workshop and Meetings costs: (includes localtransport and expenses, catering rentals, etc.)

3000.00

Project research costs (includes local andregional transportation)

2250.00

Materials and supplies 1100.00

Publications/ dissemination costs 1500.00

Communication costs 1000.00

TOTAL US$13,550.00

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climate variability and change in malawi

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