“Government Doesn't Have the Muscle”: State, NGOs, Local Politics, and Disaster Risk Governance in Malawi

Abstract

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015–30, calls for countries to strengthen disaster risk governance systems as a pathway to disaster risk reduction. This paper assesses the disaster risk governance system in Malawi, Sub‐Saharan Africa, to understand how the positioning of multiple actors is contributing to the creation of an environment generating either positive or negative outcomes. The study utilizes a landscape governance analytical framework grounded within network governance theory and predominantly relies on qualitative approaches. The study finds that non‐governmental organizations are delivering the majority of disaster risk management services in the country. However, there are shortfalls within and across key actors and institutions that are frustrating progress and could reverse isolated gains that the country has made. While central government is largely detached from community‐level implementation, its incapacity is worsened by politicians and local government actors who have positioned themselves to capture risk reduction finance. The paper, therefore, questions the rationale behind the urgency in decentralizing disaster risk governance before addressing critical challenges within the local government system. These findings, while specifically for Malawi, are also pertinent to other developing countries struggling to deal with the consequences of climate variability and change.

Barriers or enablers? Chiefs, elite capture, disasters, and resettlement in rural Malawi

“…Like most other low-income countries (Benson, Twigg, and Myers, 2001;Allen, 2006;Jones, Oven, and Wisner, 2016), NGOs implement the majority of CCA and DRR initiatives in Malawi (Kita, 2017a). The bulk of CCA and DRR work in rural areas relies on measures that require the use of assets that are controlled by or accessed through chiefs, such as land.…”

“…Most of the officials from government and NGOs who were interviewed acknowledged that without chiefs, their CCA or DRR at the community level would be challenging. Like most other low-income countries (Benson, Twigg, and Myers, 2001;Allen, 2006;Jones, Oven, and Wisner, 2016), NGOs implement the majority of CCA and DRR initiatives in Malawi (Kita, 2017a). NGOs are driving the humanitarian and resettlement responses to food insecurity in Chikwawa and Nsanje.…”

“…Under the present setup in Malawi where NGOs are leading CCA and DRR at the community level (Kita, 2017a), the government's absence is a disincentive for the whole resettlement process, while providing incentives for elite capture of humanitarian aid. The absence of government on the ground, as well as its assumptions and contradictions, explain most of the challenges at the community level.…”

“…The absence of government on the ground, as well as its assumptions and contradictions, explain most of the challenges at the community level. Under the present setup in Malawi where NGOs are leading CCA and DRR at the community level (Kita, 2017a), the government's absence is a disincentive for the whole resettlement process, while providing incentives for elite capture of humanitarian aid. The government is portraying itself as not supportive of its own policies, which, in turn, is encouraging some chiefs to subvert the processes for their own benefit.…”

Characterising Local Knowledge across the Flood Risk Management Cycle: A Case Study of Southern Malawi

“…(e.g., [42,[45][46][47][48]). In the existing system, the central government does not have the capacity to facilitate and deliver risk reduction at the local scale, primarily due to a lack of dedicated funding sources [49]. Hence, disaster risk reduction (DRR), including FRM, is predominantly led and implemented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) through community-based approaches [47,50].…”