Analysis of the meteorological capacity for early warnings in Malawi and Zambia

Developing countries are highly vulnerable to extreme weather and climate events. This vulnerability is perpetuated and compounded by the lack of efficient early warning services, a consequence of gaps in the meteorological infrastructure and the chronic shortage of trained experts. Climate change is foreseen to increase these challenges as many extreme weather and climate events are predicted to become more frequent and intense during the next decades. This paper analyses the constraints and gaps that the National Meteorological Services (NMSs) are facing in the two Southern African countries of Malawi and Zambia. Funding needed to upgrade the meteorological observing station networks, forecast production systems and human resource capacities to a level where these NMSs would be able to provide basic services is estimated to be less than US$10 million per country. These investments have the potential to bring large benefits to whole society.