Communication Structures and Decision Making Cues and Criteria to Support Effective Drought Warning in Central Malawi

Alexia Calvel,Charles Langton Vanya,Stephen Whitfield,Marc van den Homberg,Neha Mittal,Ileen Streefkerk,Clement Boyce,Micha Werner,Andrés Cabrera Flamini

doi:10.3389/fclim.2020.578327

Abstract

Early warning systems trigger early action and enable better disaster preparedness. People-centered dissemination and communication are pivotal for the effective uptake of early warnings. Current research predominantly focuses on sudden-onset hazards, such as floods, ignoring considerable differences with slow-onset hazards, such as droughts. We identify the essential factors contributing to effective drought dissemination and communication using the people-centered approach advocated in the WMOs Multi-Hazard Early Warning System Framework (MHEWS). We use semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and focus group discussions with small-scale farmers in the Mangochi and Salima Districts of Malawi. We show that the timely release of seasonal forecast, the tailoring of the drought warning content (and its timing) to agricultural decision making, and the provision of several dissemination channels enhance trust and improve uptake of drought warning information by farmers. Our analysis demonstrates that farmers seek, prepare, and respond to drought warning information when it is provided as advice on agricultural practices, rather than as weather-related information. The information was found to be useful where it offers advice on the criteria and environmental cues that farmers can use to inform their decisions in a timely manner. Based on our findings, we propose that by focusing on enhancing trust, improving information uptake and financial sustainability as key metrics, the MHEWS can be adapted for use in monitoring the effectiveness of early warning systems.

Highlights

The intensification of climate-related disasters and their catastrophic impacts are increasingly affecting the most vulnerable populations (UN, 2019)
Our focus is on the warning communication and dissemination element of early warning systems (EWS), this cannot be completely separated from the warning generation and the action taken by farmers on reception of drought warnings, which belong, respectively to the monitoring and warning elements, and to the response capability element of the Multi-Hazard Early Warning System Framework (MHEWS) framework
At the National Content Development Committee (NCDC), 5 out of 25 Key Informer Interviews (KII) explained that the data are discussed among the various stakeholders (DAES, NASFAM, Farm Radio Trust (FRT), WFP etc.), and advisories for different districts, as well as mitigation measures to cope with different hazards, are formulated for farmers

Summary

Introduction

The intensification of climate-related disasters and their catastrophic impacts are increasingly affecting the most vulnerable populations (UN, 2019). Dissemination and communication of warning information is a key and challenging aspect of such early warnings systems, and need to be developed effectively to help reduce the harm caused by extreme weather events (Taylor et al, 2018). The MHEWS framework (WMO, 2018) has been developed by the WMO from the Sendai framework and provides guidelines on the development of an effective people-centered approach to communication and dissemination of early warning information. EWS user needs and their perception of risks are context-specific elements that must be considered to provide enough evidence of a threat and prompt early actions by those at risk (Choo, 2009; Parker et al, 2009; Pulwarty and Sivakumar, 2014). Environmental cues are environmental indicators that exhibit the hazard, and social cues relate to indicators present in the social environment of the user (Choo, 2009)

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Conclusion