Barriers to Improving Climate-Related Disasters Preparedness in Rural Malawi through the “Agent, Host, and Environmental Actors” Model

Introduction: Recently, Malawi has been severely affected by climate-related disasters, including three cyclones since 2019. The study examines how multiple actors shape disaster vulnerabilities among rural populations in Malawi and analyzes the factors contributing to rural populations’ vulnerabilities to extreme weather events.

Aim: This study aims to identify barriers to improving preparedness levels and reducing disaster vulnerabilities. Drawing on Parrish’s (1964) epidemiological triangle and Blaikie et al.’s (2004) disaster vulnerabilities concept, the study explores the interplay between natural and built environments, rural and urban communities, and resource use amid extreme poverty and climate-related disasters.

Methods: Participant observations and 40 in-depth interviews were conducted in Neno District, Malawi, in 2021, supplemented by additional observations and policy desk review in 2023 and 2024. This study was part of a collaboration between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Partners in Health Malawi/Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo.

Results: The study's results highlight the pathways in which overexploitation of natural resources contributes to multiple disaster vulnerabilities among rural communities. In this context, increased urbanization has led to higher wood energy demands, resulting in deforestation in rural areas. Rural households, already facing poverty, underdeveloped infrastructures, and climate variability, often resort to charcoal production, which provides insufficient income to improve preparedness while exacerbating environmental hazards that increase the same communities’ vulnerabilities to climate-related events. With insufficient investment in preparedness, rural communities remain at risk as extreme weather events, intensified by global factors, continue to strike the country.

Conclusions: The relationship between climate-related disasters and human-environment interactions is multi-directional. Environmental protection alone may inadvertently harm rural livelihoods without improving emergency preparedness. Similarly, physical protective measures will be limited if they do not address rural-urban disparities. Therefore, human-environment interactions must be incorporated into disaster risk reduction frameworks and include community engagement to improve preparedness while addressing broader societal changes.