Br Ngonidzashe Edward, SJ

“These cyclones have made us strangers in our country; we do not have homes; we do not have fields to plant crops or a village to call our own. We are being forced to live in camps now.”

According to UNICEF, the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in 2019 brought the issue of climate-induced displacement and migration to the forefront in Malawi.

Idai destroyed nearly 224,000 homes and displaced more than 160,000 people across Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

Since Idai, Malawi has been hit by several tropical cyclones, including Chalane (2021), Eloise (2021), Guambe (2021), Ana (2022), and Gombe (2022). Malawi is now one of the top five countries in the world that are most vulnerable to climate change and severely affected by extreme weather events on the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index.

The most recent climate disaster, Cyclone Freddy (2023), is recorded as one of the deadliest tropical storms to have hit Malawi. Freddy dumped six months' worth of rainfall in just six days, resulting in the loss of approximately 1,200 lives and the displacement of more than half a million people. About 2.3 million people were affected, with 659,278 of them displaced and homeless. The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment estimated that two million farmers lost their crops, 440,000 acres of land were destroyed, and 1.4 million livestock drowned, starved, or got lost.

It is estimated that by the end of the 21st century, weather anomalies in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to an annual migration of 11.8 million people. Such high levels of climate-induced migration will have a profound impact on a country like Malawi, which is already struggling with major issues of poverty and food and nutrition insecurity.

The UN's International Organization for Migration has stated that the surge in climate-induced migration and displacement will have a significant impact on global development, putting pressure on urban infrastructure and services, hindering economic growth, increasing the risk of conflict, and ultimately reducing migrants' health, education, and social outcomes.

As the global climate crisis worsens, climate-related disasters are causing human displacement and migration, affecting poor communities in Africa on a significant scale. Malawi is projected to experience more climate-related disasters and extreme weather events in the future, which will only exacerbate the situation.

In response to this issue, the Jesuit Centre for Ecology and Development (JCED) has launched the Caravan of Hope Campaign to provide humanitarian support, raise awareness about the impacts of climate disasters, and advocate for climate justice for affected frontline communities in southern Africa.

However, more support is needed to help frontline communities, especially those who have been internally displaced. These people have become “strangers and destitute" in their own country, forced to either live in camps or migrate elsewhere, often temporarily or permanently far from home.

It is time to act to address the impact of climate change on poor communities. No one should be a stranger in this “our common home.”