Using climate services for more climate-resilient planning and policy-making in Malawi

The case study finds that while Malawi has a Climate Change Policy and priority areas in its Growth and Development Strategy, ministries are not yet using long-term climate projections in decision-making. Barriers include a perceived lack of sub-national and sector-specific data, timing mismatches with planning cycles, and difficulties in accessing technical information. Planners identified a need for multi-year forecasts (up to five years) and information on extreme events like floods and droughts to inform medium- and long-term planning.

• Malawian ministries are currently not incorporating long-term climate scenarios or projections into their decision-making processes, despite the availability of IPCC synthesis reports and regionally-downscaled projections.
• The use of climate information in medium and long-term planning is hindered by the perceived absence of sub-national or sector-specific data, as well as a lack of alignment between the timing of climate service delivery and policy planning cycles.
• Current economic modelling for the successor to Vision 2020 considers population growth but excludes climate projections, which could potentially shift the priority sectors identified by the Cabinet.
• Planners identified a specific need for multi-year forecasts (up to five years) covering temperature, rainfall distribution, and drought, as well as information on extreme events such as hail, strong winds, floods, and droughts.
• Barriers to the adoption of existing climate information include a lack of clear understanding of climate change risks across all ministries and difficulties in interpreting highly technical data presentations.

APA

Vincent, K., Cull, T., Chanika, D., Dougill, A., Stringer, L., Dixon, J., & Mkwambisi, D. (n.d.). Using climate services for more climate-resilient planning and policy-making in Malawi. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/story/using-climate-services-for-more-climate-resilient-planning-malawi

Chicago

Vincent, Katharine, Tracy Cull, Diana Chanika, Andy Dougill, Lindsay Stringer, Jami Dixon, and David Mkwambisi. Using climate services for more climate-resilient planning and policy-making in Malawi. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, n.d. https://cdkn.org/story/using-climate-services-for-more-climate-resilient-planning-malawi.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vincent |first1=Katharine |last2=Cull |first2=Tracy |last3=Chanika |first3=Diana |last4=Dougill |first4=Andy |last5=Stringer |first5=Lindsay |last6=Dixon |first6=Jami |last7=Mkwambisi |first7=David |title=Using climate services for more climate-resilient planning and policy-making in Malawi |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |url=https://cdkn.org/story/using-climate-services-for-more-climate-resilient-planning-malawi |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vincentndusing, author = {Vincent, Katharine and Cull, Tracy and Chanika, Diana and Dougill, Andy and Stringer, Lindsay and Dixon, Jami and Mkwambisi, David}, title = {{Using climate services for more climate-resilient planning and policy-making in Malawi}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, url = {https://cdkn.org/story/using-climate-services-for-more-climate-resilient-planning-malawi}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }