Climate Change Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptive Capacity of Rural Populace in Malawi: A Systematic Literature Review

Climate change is recognised as having a significant influence on disaster management programmes and jeopardising attempts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable. Unfavourable climate risks, such as dry periods, seasonal droughts, heavy rains, riverine floods, and flash floods, are common in Malawi. This paper used a systematic review of several databases and secondary data sources. During the process, 104 articles were identified, 94 of which were dropped due to duplication, irrelevancy, and inappropriateness. The qualitative approach was used for data extraction from 10 articles in line with the provisions of the content analysis procedure. The findings show that in the past two decades, droughts have become more frequent, intense, and massive, with disastrous effects on water quality, energy resources, food and water security, and the sustainable lives of most rural communities. Due to their greater reliance on natural resources and limited adaptive capacity to climate variability and fluctuation, Malawi's rural population is particularly vulnerable. As Malawi strives to become self-sufficient, climate change is making rural poverty worse and posing a threat to sustainable livelihoods. Given its ability to lower vulnerability to future poverty, the data points to income diversification as the most widely used strategy for coping with climatic variability. Similar to extension, policies and programmes targeted at increasing loan delivery should specifically address the risks farmers confront to provide prospects for income diversification without creating income instability. Similarly, social safety net programmes must take vulnerability and shock exposure into greater account for households. The paper concludes that to increase yields and enhance water and soil management, it is essential to increase the adoption of climate-smart agricultural techniques, high-yielding short-season seeds, climate-resilient crops, and innovative technology.