CSA Implementation Support in Malawi through the MoAIWD (2012-2015)

George PhiriProject Technical Coordinator

CSA Project (Malawi) FAO/EPIC

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2www.fao.org/climatechange/epic

Content of Presentation

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Brief background to the CSA Project

Thrust of CSA Activities Implemented by FAO and MoAIWD

Vision for CSA in Malawi

Entry Points for Scaling Out CSA in Malawi

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Brief background to the CSA Project

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Recent Climate Trends in Malawi

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• Malawi particularly prone to adverse climate hazards: frequent and prolonged dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall, riverine floods, and flash floods.

• Droughts and floods increased in frequency, intensity, and magnitude over the past 20 years.

• Significant increasing trends in the frequency of hot days and nights in all seasons.

• Mean annual temperature is projected to increase by 1.1 to 3.0°C by the 2060’s, and by 1.5 to 5.0°C by the 2090s.

• All models consistently project increases in the proportion of rainfall that falls in heavy events in the annual average of up to 19% by the 2090s.

Agriculture and Climate Change in Malawi

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• Agriculture (which is mainly rain-fed) is central to Malawi’s economy and livelihoods, and will continue to be fundamental for sustainable development of the country.

• In the last 5 years, agriculture has accounted for 35% of GDP, 85% of the labour force and 83% of foreign exchange earnings.

• Agriculture is the sector that will be most severely impacted by climate change (NAPA).

• Over 50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line and one in five people is chronically food insecure.

Our View in Brief:

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Agriculture: key sector to address challenges of food security under climate change (sink and source)

Ag growth effective means of poverty reduction

Projected CC impacts entail an urgent need for the adaptation of the agriculture sector

Mitigation can come through synergistic measures and be an additional source of finance

Thrust of CSA Activities Implemented by FAO and MoAIWD

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The CSA project aims at building evidence-based agricultural development strategies, policies and investment frameworks to:

1. sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes;

2. build resilience and the capacity of agricultural and food systems to adapt to climate change; and

3. seek opportunities to reduce and remove GHGs compatibly with their national food security and development goals.

Approach of the CSA project in Malawi

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is NOT about…

• Providing one-size-fits-all solutions for agricultural technology or practice for the whole world, region, country or sub-national level;

• Analyzing GHG emissions reductions potentials as a single driver

It IS about…

• Providing a context-specific approach to agricultural development;• Based on specific evidences and trends found in Malawi; and• Based on the project methodology which makes a link between research findings, policy making and capacity development

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Develop a policy environment & agricultural investments to improve food security and provide resilience under climate uncertainty

NEEDS RESEARCH COMPONENT

What are the barriers to adoption of CSA practices?

Legal & Institutional Appraisal: mapping institutional relationships and identifying constraints

What are the synergies and tradeoffs between food security, adaptation and mitigation from agricultural practices?

POLICY SUPPORT COMPONENT

Identifying where policy coordination at the national level is needed and draw

recommendations on how to do it

Facilitating national participation/inputs to climate and agriculture international

policy process

Project Framework

EvidenceBase

Strategic Framework & Policy Advice

OUTPUTS

Investment proposals

Capacity Building

What are the policy levers to facilitate adoption and what will they cost?

What is special about the CSA Project?Three aspects stand out:

• The approach taken brings together, in a coherent framework, economics, institutional analysis, and policy to understand barriers to the adoption of practices;

• Matches spatial climate data and household survey data to examine how climate affects economic decisions by households; and

• Analyses are structured to be useful in the development of country-owned investment proposals, as well as identifying and building mechanisms to link to financing sources- both Climate Change and Agriculture

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1. Evidence: Quantitative and qualitative analyses of primary and secondary data at household and community level combined with institutional and geo-referenced climate data to:a) assess the situation on food security, adaptation and

potential mitigation;b) Identify the best CSA options: through the CBA in 4 districts

(Balaka, Ntcheu, Kasungu and Mzimba) – 1,433 fields by 524 HH over 11 EPAs;

c) Understand barriers to CSA adoption using World Bank LSMS-ISA data;

d) Risk management analysis – identification of risk reducing tools; and

e) Identify enabling factors.

Activities 1/3: Creating a base of evidence

2. Project coordination unit/core team: keeping a dialogue with members from MoAIWD, and other stakeholders such as NGOs, university, civil society and FAO

3. Policy and institutional mapping: to better understand policy formulation, linkages and potential gaps or conflict/contradictions

4. Institutional data collection: to better understand influence of institutions (i.e. cooperatives, access to credit, subsidies, land tenure etc) in adopting CSA vs conventional agriculture.

5. Supporting country’s policy formulation through policy dialogue and analysis

Activities 2/3: Policy component

6. Coordination between climate change and agricultural policy (e.g. enhancing climate change and agricultural policy alignment in support of CSA, Supporting capacity to link international and national policy issues)

7. Capacity development: • Supporting MSc students, a PhD student and mentoring• Implement training activities to agricultural frontline staff• Support policy makers’ participation to UNFCCC

negotiations8. Collaboration with CCAFS: using scenarios to improve CSA

planning9. Developing a strategic framework for investment in CSA in

Malawi

Activities 3/3: Capacity building and overarching

Vision for CSA in Malawi

Climate change adapted agriculture sector underpinned by evidence-based planning and programming of an out-scaled and well-coordinated climate-smart agriculture that addresses on-farm and off-farm risks.

What is this Vision?

Entry Points for Scaling Out CSA in Malawi

• Malawi - already experiences several climate change effects; most of these frequently negatively impact on agriculture;

• Negative impacts of climate change influence the application of agricultural practices/strategies that are most effective in increasing productivity and farm incomes;

• CSA represents an approach to building, consolidating and disseminating evidence on climate change effects and effective strategies across the country has been initiated;

• Emerging results from Malawi-FAO CSA project - there are several activities planned under ASWAp with high CSA potential (= investments into enabling actions to support CSA)

• ASWAp (especially as the next phase is being considered), as well as the launch of the NCCIP provides a good basis for guiding investments. Critical to ensure their coordination – at intra- and inter-sector levels;

Entry Points for Scaling Out CSA in Malawi

Thank you

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