Abstract

It has been globally accepted that climate change poses serious long term effects on livelihoods. The effects of climate change in Malawi largely manifest in the drying up experiences of the Lake Chilwa, the second largest lake in the country. Fishing has for a long time been the main occupation contributing significantly to the livelihoods of the lake’s catchment area with households sorely relying on fishing activities. However, climate change has caused so much uncertainty on the lake and these uncertainties have had implications on fishing livelihoods. Located in a climatically unstable environment, Lake Chilwa is prone to drying and when it dries it takes 1 to 2 years for it to refill and about 3 to 4 years for the fishery to recover. During these recessions, fish mortalities and reduced catches are recorded. While households have previously had to cope with periodic recessions, the situation has become perpetual as water levels continue to drop while the fish stocks fatally decline. The study thus sought to; determine the perceptions of households involved in fishing activities regarding the changes, identify the livelihood strategies employed for adaptation and finally to analyse the sustainability of the livelihood strategies employed for adaptation. The study employed a mixed methods approach and focused on households surrounding Kachulu beach. Household and in-depth interviews were conducted and quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis by coding emerging dominant themes. The study results show that the households are aware of the changes and they attribute these changes to climate change. Further results show that households have adapted by engaging in farming activities, farm and off-farm ‘ganyu’ and small scale businesses. While some have lost hope and completely quit fishing, others have only learnt and diversified their livelihoods. Furthermore, the study concluded that although the livelihoods strategies for adaptation have been employed for some time even over five years, they have not been able to maintain the positive livelihood outcomes that the households enjoyed from fishing activities. Hence; concluded to be unsustainable.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2019

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