Helping those affected by the Malawi flood crisis

The CCPM is supporting communities affected by the devastating flooding in southern Malawi which has killed 56people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Torrential rains have left entire villages underwater, damaging infrastructure including roads, power and water supplies. The President of Malawi has declared a state of emergency.

Communities participating in the CCPM are among those affected, with an initial survey suggesting 5,000 families have been affected by the disaster in Chikwawa alone. Many homes have been damaged and crops destroyed. Communities in Balaka and Zomba have also experienced heavy and continuous rain, which has caused water logging in farms and severe damage to crops.

In Chikwawa, the CCPM is already responding through our partner CICOD. Following an assessment of the floods, which damaged wells, sanitation facilities, houses, livestock, and other property, CICOD provided chlorine water treatment packs to 681 households in Ngowe, Chikwawa. The activity was coordinated and conducted jointly with Ngabu Hospital officials. This work will reduce the risk of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

The CCPM is working with other partners on the ground to assess what further help can be provided.

In 2015, Malawi was hit by widespread flooding that displaced nearly a quarter of a million people. Climate change is making these kinds of disasters more common.

Maggie Ngwira, Trócaire Malawi’s CCPM Programme Coordinator, said the situation is extremely serious:

Things are bad here. Some of the areas where the CCPM is working with local communities are completely inaccessible. We are doing what we can to help.
Beyond the immediate emergency, there has been severe damage to crops so it is expected that the next harvest will be reduced. Climate-related disasters like this highlight why it is essential that we keep building long term resilience for vulnerable communities into the CCPM.

Picture shows a field near a CCPM community.