Vulnerability, resilience and climate adaptive strategies of forest-dependent communities in Central and Southern Malawi

Abstract

In Malawi as elsewhere in developing countries, the majority of the rural communities and the large proportion of the urban population depend on plant and animal products from the forests to meet their nutritional, energy, cultural and medicinal needs. However, the emergency of climate change and its various impacts on forest ecosystem has affected the productivity of the forests. The emerging risks and impacts of climate change and extreme weather events are increasingly presenting important threats to the forest ecosystem and forest dependent communities. Understanding climate change and its consequences on forests and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities could support forest dependent strategies for responding to climate change. In response to the presently limited understanding of what shapes human adaptation to climate change in various sectors at local level, a study aimed at characterizing the vulnerability, resilience and adaptive capacity of the forest dependent communities to climate change was conducted around Phirilongwe and Mchinji Forest Reserves in Malawi. The study employed a vulnerability assessment framework which combines the elements of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to conceptualize vulnerability in forestry sector in Malawi as defined by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, the IPCC Vulnerability assessment framework was modified to demonstrate how forest dependent households conceptualize their vulnerability. This is the novelty of this study as it extends the IPCC vulnerability model to identify household attributing factors influencing their climate change conceptions, coping strategy choices and forest use as climate adaptation options. Furthermore, unlike other previous studies, this study included the analysis of forest use and management capacity and the sustainable livelihood strategy component in characterizing the rural household adaptive capacities. The study used empirical data collected through interview of 422 households using a multi-methodological approach. Structured and semi-structured interviews were used to quantitatively and qualitatively implement general and specified measures of forest dependent community vulnerability and adaptation between April and November 2019. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University of Pretoria and the consents were obtained from respective Mangochi and Mchinji District Council Offices, and the individual subject units interviewed before data collection exercise The study used four independent but thematically related objectives in assessing the vulnerability, resilience and the climate adaptive capacities of the forest-dependent communities. Regarding climate exposure and sensitivity as vulnerability concepts, the study explored the awareness, knowledge and perception of forest dependent communities on climate change and variability around Phirilongwe and Mchinji forest reserves in Malawi. Secondly using perception-based assessment principles, the study assessed the effects of climate change and extreme weather events on forests and forest dependent livelihood among the forest-dependent communities. The third objective assessed the forest use and local forest capacity for forest dependent households to sustain their livelihoods and climate resilience. The study finally analyzed the forest dependent adaptive capacity and coping strategies employed to reduce vulnerability and improve their resilience towards climate change and extreme weather events of Malawi forest dependent communities The results provide insight of the level of climate change awareness, knowledge and site-based key climate extreme events perceived by forest dependent communities. The main factors influencing local climate perception and their understanding on natural and anthropogenic climate change is revealed. The findings further highlight how forest dependent households perceived the identified climate extreme events as a threat or risks to their forest dependent livelihoods. Specifically, the sensitivity of individual forest products to key climate impact factor was characterized. The study concludes that climate change and extreme weather events can affect the access and availability of forest products for livelihoods. The findings also support the proposition that forest products contribute highly to the forest dependent household subsistence and income generation. The emergency of climate change and extreme weather events such as erratic rainfall, serious droughts and strong-winds were proved to increase forest usage by forest communities around both Mchinji and Phirilongwe Forest Reserves. A negligible proportion of the respondents in Phirilongwe and Mchinji Forest reserves were found to have forest management and business-related skills and capacity. The inadequate capacity and ineffective participation in forest management threatens the sustained contribution of the forest dependent livelihoods. The study finally exposes the various climate coping strategies and factors influencing the households’ choices to ascertain their resilience and adaptive capacities. Generally, the study has demonstrated that it is possible to engage forest dependent communities to characterize their vulnerability and engage them in climate change discourse as long as their climate change and forest management skills are capacitated. We therefore recommend the involvement of forest dependent communities in designing climate adaptation intervention and multiple use of various strategies and methods that will help to address their livelihoods while improving their climate information and knowledge. Secondly, site-based approaches to address threatened climate-sensitive forest dependent livelihoods must be prioritized in addressing the vulnerability of forest dependent livelihoods. We further recommend awareness campaigns and training to impart technical skills and knowledge to promote sustainable forest resource utilization and enhance their capacity to participate in forest business and forest management are necessary tools to enhance the resilience of forest dependent households.