Experts warn that payment problems and a lack of local ownership could undermine the effectiveness of a nationwide adaptation project.
Local participants working on a World Bank funded climate change adaptation project in Malawi say they have not been paid for up to a year, leading many to drop out. This has contributed to experts' fears that adaptation programmes that are mismanaged and lack community ownership will lead to poor outcomes, leaving people vulnerable to climate impacts.
The $128 million World Bank-supported Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works (CSEPW) project recruits individuals from poor communities in Malawi that are especially vulnerable to droughts and floods. It invites them join efforts to strengthen climate resilience for which they are offered MK28,800 ($16) for each two-month working cycle, involving 24 days' work.
In Karonga district, in northern Malawi, many participants have spent several months engaging in activities such as planting trees along riverbanks, building check dams to reduce soil erosion, and digging channels and ditches to reduce flood risks. Yet many claim they have never been paid. Scores of individuals have quietly left the project.
Mwiza Kapila, a former local participant, told African Arguments that he was initially excited to join the scheme. "We are all aware that climate change has affected all of us and we wanted to do something," he says. He worked on the adaptation project in Malawi for over six months before giving up on it earlier this year. "Each time we are told the money is coming and we will be paid, but when payment time comes a few are paid while others are left out," he says.
An ongoing participant, who asked not to be named, hasn't been paid despite working on the project since September 2023. "We are asked to go for verifications of our names using the national identification cards almost every week, and each time we go we are told we will be paid. But these verifications have been going on for months and nothing is happening," they say. "I am still working with the hope that one day I will get paid."
Collins Mwenekibombwe, a foreman for the project in Lupembe, one of several Extensional Planning Areas (EPAs) in Karonga district, says there may be as many as 100 participants not receiving their allowances in Lupembe alone. He says that of the approximately 400 people who enrolled in the EPA when the project started, only around 250 are left.
Some other district officials working on the project in Lupembe say payment problems have been resolved. Ndhlazi Burton, an extension worker from the Ministry of Agriculture, says that most of the 13,000-15,000 enrolled participants in Karonga district have been paid and that the remainder will be paid soon. "As of now, their grievances have been sorted out and their names are sent to the head office for payment," he insists.
Philip Munthali, Agricultural Extension Development Coordinator for Lupembe, says it was people's lack of ID and cell phones that created difficulties. "The problems have now been sorted out and the participants are now being paid their dues," he says.
Several community members, however, remain sceptical at these assurances. They say they have had IDs and cell phones all along. Some accuse officials of playing hide and seek and of not wanting to admit the truth about payment issues.
African Arguments contacted the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC), the body responsible for implementing the project, for further information. Their Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Project Coordinator, Paul Chipeta, requested time to answer our questions, but then stopped responding.
Henry Chimbali, External Affairs & Communications Expert for the World Bank, similarly promised to answer questions but has not responded despite follow-up requests.
"Solutions must come from the communities"
Experts who spoke to African Arguments are concerned at the impact of payment problems in the Malawi climate adaptation project. Studies suggest that the long-term success of climate adaptation programmes is dependent on not just local participation - or even consultation - but ownership.
"A project like this one on climate change can only be meaningful if it has full participation of the local communities who are the target audiences," says Herbet Mwalukomo, Executive Director at Malawi's Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA). "Imposing a project on the communities does not work."
Sosten Chiotha, an expert in Environmental Science and Climate Change and the Regional Director of the Malawian NGO Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) Southern and Eastern Africa, says the underlying problem facing most climate projects in Malawi is fragmentation. He argues that there is a lack of coherent strategy and coordination between different priorities and actors, leading to poor outcomes.
"There has to be a national plan and, when the projects come, they should fit in the national rehabilitation plan," he says. "At present, that is not happening. When someone has the money, he comes in and starts the project without even consulting the communities, and this is what is creating the problems in many projects."
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"We should cocreate solutions with the local communities," adds Chiotha. "Solutions must come from the communities themselves."
Earlier this year, authorities in Mchinji district disclosed that the measures constructed as part of the CSEPW project were sub-standard and thus had limited effect on improving resilience to climate impacts. Despite various challenges with the World Bank funded project, it has been rolled out to all 28 districts of Malawi following the 2021/22 pilot in 10 districts. In February 2024, the Minister of Finance, Simplex Banda, said the CSEPW project has enrolled 520,000 participants countrywide.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 75% of its 20 million people living in poverty, and one most vulnerable to climate change. In 2023, floods in Malawi killed over 1,000 people and displaced over half a million. This year, devastating droughts led to crop failures, leaving millions facing hunger.
Raphael Mweninguwe is a freelance journalist based in Malawi.
