In one of the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather, mostly women farmers are struggling after losing land, livestock, and livelihoods.is among the five nations worldwide most affected by extreme weather events. The country experiences distinct wet and dry seasons, so climate phenomena like El Niño can disrupt normal rain patterns and lead to periods of drought.
"I had to abandon my home," says Sinoya. She returned in August after living for five months in an evacuation camp, only to find her lands saturated by water."We cannot grow rice...this year because the water has ruined the land. We cannot grow maize because the soil is contaminated with sand. Nowadays, I depend on mangoes, or else we eat kalangonda beans, but these are poisonous unless you cook them well. Every day, I worry what my children will eat.
"It's difficult to afford a plot or rent a house, so poverty is leading people to settle in hazardous places," says Miriam Joshua, an associate professor of geography and earth sciences at Malawi University."They are afraid of moving to areas where there may be no livelihood." For the same reason, early warning systems - which do not always reach the most rural areas - have had little impact.
She points to a plot covered in the wilted remains of maize, where she slowly removes gravel with a hoe to start cultivating her farm again."I need this land to feed my children, but my crops can't grow on this soil now," Jailosi says.With all of Malawi's existing vulnerabilities, an event of Freddy's magnitude was more than enough to push an impoverished population over the edge.