Impacts of Rainfall and Forest Cover Change on Runoff in Small Catchments: A Case Study of Mulunguzi and Namadzi Catchment Areas in Southern Malawi

The impacts of climate change on water resources have received much attention globally especially in the last 30 years. Rainfall, the main driver of the hydrological cycle, has been varying in parts of the world in various ways. The picture is more complicated if impacts of land cover changes on water resources are also taken into consideration. These two pose challenges which require an integrated approach to address. Not many of such studies have been conducted in Malawian catchments and other tropical regions. In this study, annual, seasonal and monthly series of rainfall and river discharge of the Mulunguzi and Namadzi River catchments, two small sub-catchments in the Lake Chilwa catchment area, were analysed for trends using the non parametric Mann-Kendall statistic and Sens slope estimator. Further, Linear regression and the RainRU model were applied to establish whether the relationship between rainfall and runoff in the two catchments has changed. Furthermore, linear regression was used to establish how increased forest cover has influenced river flows in the two catchments. The results suggest that rainfall in the Mulunguzi catchment has decreased significantly at all scales and this has also led to reduced river flows. Increased forest cover since the pre 1950s has also resulted in reduced flows but this is not as significant as the rainfall decrease. In the Namadzi catchment, the rainfall trends suggest a varying pattern with no obvious straight trends. At annual and some months timescale, the rainfall has increased significantly. The river flow on the other hand suggests an overall declining pattern. This pattern is well linked with significant forest area increments which have occurred since 1995. It is therefore important that more detailed studies should be conducted to gain further insight to these relations as both catchments are important socioeconomically.Keywords: Land use; land cover; river flow; rainfall; climate change

Policy Integration and Coherence for Conservation Agriculture Initiatives in Malawi

In sub-Saharan Africa, development and dissemination of perceived new agricultural innovations dominate the development agenda yet hunger and poverty remain widespread. A conducive policy environment is essential to support these efforts. Despite that national policies are a critical component in the functioning of an agricultural innovation system, studies have often overlooked their relevance in farmers’ adoption of agricultural innovations. There is an urgent need to enhance understanding of how policies affect long-term adoption of agricultural innovations aimed at increasing productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers. This study utilises thematic content analysis to examine the extent of integration of Conservation Agriculture (CA) and coherence in Malawi’s national agricultural policies, and their implication for CA adoption among smallholder farmers. Results indicate that inadequate integration of CA in the National Agricultural Policy (NAP), coupled with a lack of coherence of agricultural department policies, undermines farmers’ CA adoption. While inadequate integration constrains resource allocation for supporting CA activities, lack of coherence of agricultural policies radiates conflicting and confusing agricultural extension messages to smallholder farmers. We argue that inadequate CA integration and incoherence of policies are institutional constraints which prevent farmers’ sustained adoption. To facilitate long-term adoption of CA among smallholders, there is need to: (1) strengthen CA integration in agricultural policies; (2) improve departmental coordination to enhance coherence of agricultural strategies and extension messages disseminated to farmers; and (3) strengthen government’s role in supporting multi-disciplinary research to generate and disseminate best practices capable of sustaining CA adoption

Pathways towards coexistence with large carnivores in production systems

Coexistence between livestock grazing and carnivores in rangelands is a major challenge in terms of sustainable agriculture, animal welfare, species conservation and ecosystem function. Many effective non-lethal tools exist to protect livestock from predation, yet their adoption remains limited. Using a social-ecological transformations framework, we present two qualitative models that depict transformative change in rangelands grazing. Developed through participatory processes with stakeholders from South Africa and the United States of America, the models articulate drivers of change and the essential pathways to transition from routine lethal management of carnivores towards mutually beneficial coexistence. The pathways define broad actions that incorporate multiple values in grazing systems including changes to livestock management practices, financial support, industry capacity building, research, improved governance and marketing initiatives. A key fnding is the new concept of ‘Predator Smart Farming’, a holistic and conscientious approach to agriculture, which increases the resilience of landscapes, animals (domesticated and wild) and rural livelihoods. Implementation of these multiple pathways would lead to a future system that ensures thriving agricultural communities, secure livelihoods, reduced violence toward animals, and landscapes that are productive and support species conservation and coexistence