Mainstreaming Human Mobility Into Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan Process

The document highlights Malawi's extreme vulnerability to climate-related shocks, such as Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which displaced over 659,000 people in 2023. It argues that while Malawi has established a NAP process since 2014, human mobility is not yet clearly mainstreamed into its adaptation policies. The authors propose specific entry points for integration, focusing on strengthening government capacity, improving institutional coordination through the Technical Working Group on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (TWG MECC), and developing gender-responsive, disaggregated data systems to support the most marginalized groups.

• Malawi is highly vulnerable to climate change, ranking 157 out of 181 countries in the ND-GAIN Country Index. The country has faced over 19 major flooding events in the last 50 years and eight catastrophic droughts in the last 36 years.
• Tropical Cyclone Freddy in March 2023 caused massive internal displacement and significant economic loss, with 659,278 people displaced and total disaster effects estimated at USD 507 million.
• Human mobility is currently not explicitly integrated into Malawi's NAP or climate adaptation policies, creating a gap in resilience-building for vulnerable populations who may use migration as a coping mechanism.
• The authors recommend using the Technical Working Group on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (TWG MECC), established in 2022, as a primary actor to help mainstream migration and climate issues into national strategies.
• Integrating human mobility into the NAP process allows Malawi to align with the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Act of April 2023 and utilize its newly established climate financing mechanisms.
• Gender is a critical factor in climate vulnerability and mobility; however, Malawi faces challenges in implementing gender-responsive policies due to budget limitations and policy incoherence.

APA

Maloya, G. R., & Banda, A. (2024). Mainstreaming Human Mobility Into Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan Process. NAP Global Network. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/icad-2024-human-mobility-nap-process-in-malawi.pdf

Chicago

Maloya, Gift Richard, and Amos Banda. Mainstreaming Human Mobility Into Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan Process. NAP Global Network, 2024. https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/icad-2024-human-mobility-nap-process-in-malawi.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Maloya |first1=Gift Richard |last2=Banda |first2=Amos |title=Mainstreaming Human Mobility Into Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan Process |publisher=NAP Global Network |date=March 2024 |url=https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/icad-2024-human-mobility-nap-process-in-malawi.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maloya2024mainstreaming, author = {Maloya, Gift Richard and Banda, Amos}, title = {{Mainstreaming Human Mobility Into Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan Process}}, institution = {NAP Global Network}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://napglobalnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/icad-2024-human-mobility-nap-process-in-malawi.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }