SCIAF to lead climate action in Malawi

The Scottish Government has given grant funding to SCIAF so we can help communities recover from the damages caused by the climate crisis.  

At COP26, the First Minister made Scotland one of the first governments in the world to pledge funding to low-income countries who face irreversible losses and damages because of climate change. The Scottish Government pledged £2 million for this cause.  

Now, with the Scottish Government’s support, SCIAF will help communities in Malawi who lost loved ones, their homes and livelihoods due to Storm Ana, a tropical storm that hit the country in January 2022.  

We have worked with sister agency Trócaire Malawi and local partners in Malawi since 2017 on the Scottish Government funded Climate Challenge Programme Malawi (CCPM). Communities co-designed successful solutions to climate challenges which included providing skills and tools to people to adapt to changing weather. 

But in the face of more extreme weather events like recent Storm Ana, communities in Malawi are in need of support to deal with the impact that cannot be avoided by reducing emissions or adapting to global temperature increases. 

With this funding, we will work alongside local communities to conduct research and identify the best interventions to recover.  

Lorraine Currie, Director of Integral Human Development at SCIAF, commented:  

"The Scottish Government is leading the world on funding for the losses and damages  low-income countries face because of richer nations’ emissions. At SCIAF, we work with some of the poorest people in the world who are on the frontline of the climate crisis. They need our help to recover from extreme weather events.

"We are thankful for this funding that will go directly towards helping communities in Malawi who have lost loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods because of a recent tropical storm. This will be some of the first research of its kind, where we will identify the losses and damages of climate change and develop plans with local communities to recover."