Climate change dims your smile

Malawi prides itself as the Warm Heart of Africa, but it is hardly the happiest nation on the planet getting warmer and more populated. The United Nations ranks it the fourth least happy nation alongside war-ravaged nations. Malawians on the move have little to smile about shattered roads and falling public infrastructure following heavy rains and frequent floods.

Take a gullied road and you will hear people complaining about hunger due to dry spells and perennial floods that wreck homes, livelihoods, roads, schools and businesses. The frequent disasters worsened by climate variability dominated the fifth African Regional Conference on Loss and Damage held in Lilongwe last week. A week before, Selina Lamosi survived floods that destroyed homes, maturing crops and livestock in Chikwawa.

The woman narrowly escaped swelling Mwanza River during the flash floods that hit over 1 500 homesteads in the district. In an interview with Malawi News Agency, she narrated: “I was crossing the river on the way from my rice field when I fled rising waters and spent a night in a tree until rescuers arrived. “The frequent disasters leave them with no time to rise from the rubble and rebuild.

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When one disaster hits, the next storm is already in the skies. Such is our agony in the past 20 years. Malawi is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events due to its location in the great African Rift Valley, rapid population growth, unsustainable urbanisation, environmental degradation and climate change.

Official data shows the country has experienced over 21 major river and flash floods within 50 years. Experts warn that the frequency and severity of these disruptions will keep increasing with climate change, even though Malawi contributes little to greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Climate change wipes out billions from the landlocked economy, grappling with forex shortage, high debt burden and global supply chain disruptions. The rising economic toll cost the country around 1.7 percent of its gross domestic product annually and could reach nine percent by 2030 and 16 percent by 2050 if left unchecked, official data shows.

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