Faith leaders and civil society organizations working in climate change and disaster risk management have called upon the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change to prepare Malawi for a “super-El Niño” climate event during the 2026/27 season that could severely impact local crop yields and national food supplies.
In a joint statement, the stakeholders asked lawmakers to take urgent action and fully finance anticipatory preparedness plans.
According to the statement, the time to act is before the crisis hits, noting that preparedness today protects Malawi’s tomorrow, warning that delayed action will only worsen human suffering, derail ongoing development initiatives, and dramatically increase emergency response costs across vulnerable districts.
“The anticipated Super El Niño presents Malawi with a critical opportunity to shift from simply responding to disasters toward actively investing in early resilience. Waiting for crops to fail before deploying aid is both financially unsustainable and morally unacceptable. We must protect vulnerable households before they fall deeper into extreme poverty,” reads part of the statement.
The coalition noted that meteorological forecasts tracking the development of the upcoming El Niño system show an 80% likelihood of a strong event which might will lead to widespread dry spells during the primary rainfall season, dramatically increasing the risk of drought, crop failure, and acute food insecurity across rural districts.
Since 2015, Malawi has experienced a devastating series of climate shocks, incurring over $1.19 billion in total damages and driving recovery needs above $1.7 billion.
The coalition warned that the nation faces a deficit where recovery needs continually outstrip available resources.
“Climate justice requires protecting communities that are most vulnerable despite contributing least to climate change. Rural farmers cannot bear the burden of global climate inaction alone without direct state support. Real justice means providing frontline communities with the resource buffers and tools they need to withstand severe weather,” reads the statement.
While Malawi contributes less than 0.04% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it remains directly in the line of fire from extreme weather.
Disaster impact data highlights a direct link between severe weather and national poverty levels, with recent tropical storms and cyclones, such as Chedza, Ana, Idai, Gombe, and Freddy, displacing over 1.5 million people.
The coalition has challenged lawmakers to act because this is an important moment to emphasize the need for swift and decisive action to improve the country’s resilience to extreme weather.
“We seek to amplify affected communities’ voices, strengthen climate governance, and advocate for increased, accessible, and accountable climate financing. Decision-makers must treat climate adaptation not as an optional secondary policy, but as an absolute core element of national security and economic planning,” reads part of the statement.
The statement has specifically called upon the Parliamentary Committee to ensure Strategic Grain Reserves are fully stocked within 60 days to prevent immediate food supply shocks.
It also urged the committee to support earmarking 10% of the 2026/27 Constituency Development Fund (CDF) directly for local climate preparedness interventions.
Furthermore, the statement advocates for increased direct funding to the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) for early warning distribution, alongside strict oversight to ensure “no kwacha of the response is lost to misuse.”
To secure lasting legal frameworks, the coalition presses Parliament to fast-track the Climate Change Bill and fully operationalize the Disaster Risk Management Act of 2023.
The coalition comprises of Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops, Evangelical Association of Malawi, Malawi Council of Churches and Qadria Muslim Association of Malawi, together with civil society organizations and networks including Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA), Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) and Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC), Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET), Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), Natural Resources Justice Network, National Youth Network on Climate Change (NYNCC).
El Niño is a natural weather pattern in the Pacific, but when combined with human-driven global warming, it can cause a spike in temperatures and severe dry spells across Southern Africa.
