The Human-Centered Design, emphases on the need to understand problems from the beneficiaries’ perspectives and their expectations through direct interaction, rather than imposing solutions on them. This approach has profoundly influenced our work at the Clean Cities Project.
We are thrilled to announce that, with the support from the Aspire Leaders Program with Menia Kaputa and Yankho Juma as our leads, we have launched a new initiative called the Climate Shield Initiative. Our goal is to develop mitigation, adaptation, and resilience strategies to combat the impacts of climate change, focusing primarily on floods in our communities in Malawi.
Our first target area is the Traditional Authority (TA) Ndindi in the Salima district. To truly understand the problem from the victims’ perspectives, our team went to Salima to conduct focus group discussions with the flood victims. We wanted to hear their stories, understand their challenges, and learn about their needs directly from them.
We had meaningful discussions with community leaders, including Senior Chief Ndindi (TA), the Senior Group of Nsanimaganga village, and the Group Village Head of Kuchizanje. These two areas were heavily impacted by floods and rising water levels this year. We visited flood-affected areas and saw firsthand the houses that were destroyed by the floods.
According to Habitat for Humanity, over 923,000 people have been affected by floods, forcing them to leave their homes and lose their possessions. On average, 100,000 people and 200 education and healthcare facilities are affected by flooding each year, according to the Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRF) Initiative. This year, the rising levels of Lake Malawi have exacerbated the situation, particularly affecting lakeshore districts like Salima. In TA Ndindi alone, floods have displaced over 324 households, making it a critical focus area for our Climate Shield Initiative.
As Clean Cities Project, we are committed to climate action and building climate-resilient communities in Malawi and beyond. By incorporating Human-Centered Design into our approach, we aim to create solutions that are truly aligned with the needs and expectations of those most affected by climate change in order to make tangible differences.
