In December 2023, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to reinforce existing cooperation and explore further areas of collaboration between the United States and Malawi Governments.
The discussions specifically focused on enhancing the effectiveness of joint efforts in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Both parties recognized the importance of leveraging advanced technologies and shared expertise to mitigate the impact of natural disasters and climate change on vulnerable communities in Malawi.
A formal request for assistance was conveyed through the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe from the DoDMA Commissioner Charles Kalemba encompassing multiple Disaster Risk Management (DRM) initiatives aimed at strengthening Malawi’s capacity to manage and respond to disasters more effectively.
The initiatives outlined in the request included enhancing early warning systems, improving disaster response coordination, and increasing community resilience through targeted training and infrastructure development.
A significant and innovative initiative was to apply and use High Resolution Three-Dimensional (HR3D) Geospatial Data.
It culminated into this transformative initiative aimed to “Conduct an Aerial Topographic Survey of Malawi,” using advanced aerial surveying techniques to gather comprehensive geospatial data.
In support of the programme, the Army Geospatial Center (AGC) High Resolution Three-Dimensional (HR3D) program deployed a Beech King Air B350 to Lilongwe, Malawi, on May 1, 2024, with guidance from the Malawi Defense Force (MDF).
U.S. Government Lead for the Army Geospatial Center High Resolution Three-Dimensional (HR3D) program, affectionately known as BuckEye in Malawi, Jason Steers puts the progress so far at 90 percent.
“This initiative is to support a cultural of disaster management affairs in being able to identity and analyze the most effective way to support flood plain analysis, to support the crisis management if it happens, currently when the tornado or whatever had happened. There are issues and locations that become very prioritized in reference to how can you help the most people in the most efficient way?”
With the imagery in a flood and drought environment, it will enable them to identify how the water is going to flow, how to support and address the villages in the most efficient manner without wasting resources in order to support them.
The 2023 Disaster Risk Management (DRM) law requires the need to do a hazard map and zone the country into risk areas such as high, moderate and low risk in terms of people living in these areas.
This cannot be done without data so DoDMA requested the US Embassy for assistance to map the country to enable it know the topography and its geophysical setup for it to make decisions and declare the areas accordingly in terms of the risks and hazards.
DoDMA Commissioner Charles Kalemba underscored the importance of live disaster monitoring citing the recent Tropical Cyclone Freddy incident whereby the Department couldn’t go to flood prone areas like Mulanje, Phalombe.
“But if you have a system that is able to show you what is happening in Phalombe, you’re still able to make decisions, you can even be able to decide which other routes to take because you are able to see the whole area that is under disaster.
”They’re 90 percent done and we still have 30 days because the project is to end on 31st August so we still have 30 days to complete where its remaining but it cannot be 100 percent because certain areas are restricted areas so they cannot survey them”.
The US officials are working with the Malawi Air force, Surveyor General’s Office, and DODMA staff with an officer from the Department attached so that after the data is captured and analyzed, they will be in the lead and run the show.
Kalemba clarified that the aircraft is here on temporary basis but the Department will be requesting from time to time when the need arises adding that a number of other equipment can be used such as Google maps for live monitoring.
Currently, there is a base map that will be used for DoDMA to see if there are any changes in the topographical issues.
The State Partnership Programme was launched with North Carolina due to strategic reasons such as it’s the size of Malawi, has a lot of water hence subject to a number of harsh climate events like hurricanes every year, is an agricultural state and have wonderful universities to partner with the ones in Malawi.
US Embassy Charge d Affaires Amy Diaz noted this makes the two the best partners for crisis and disaster management hence sent a group of Malawian leaders in the military, health department, DoDMA, and Universities to have conversations on how to grow the programmes.
It will also enable farmers know on the best areas where to grow different types of foods hence boosting food security especially following this year’s drought and the potential impact of the El Nino.
“We had really high areas of rainfall knowing the conditions of topography, knowing where the flood plains are; this is proactive and this is how we build resilience because we’re giving Malawians the tools to know what they need to know years out in terms of making the decisions for planning for their families and where they live and what they grow and what they invest in.
“So I hope this will do it and I would say personally I think Malawians are very resilient; you’ve had a lot thrown at you in the last five years and I’ve only been there for two of the last five years, but you’re still standing and so I see this seriously as an investment. I’m investing in Malawi because I believe that Malawi can use this tool effectively”.
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A journalist with over 10 years all round media experience in Television, print, radio, and online platforms with a particular interest in health and climate change reporting. I love writing stories on vulnerable and marginalized societies to bring about the necessary change in their lives. Loves traveling, reading news related articles and listening to all genres of music.
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