Enhancing institutional arrangement for effective climate services delivery.

The Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) is mandated with monitoring, forecasting, and disseminating weather, climate and climate change information so that the nation’s socioeconomic development can be guided by reliable data; its responsibility even extends to providing climate services that safeguard and optimise air navigation in Malawi, a function that must meet International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification standards. Yet the department is facing a number of systemic constraints: it operates at only 56 % of its authorised staffing levels, leaving many districts where the need for timely climate information is most needed, under represented; The department’s district offices are dilapidated, with several facilities requiring complete reconstruction; and the scantiness of modern weather monitoring instruments, coupled with a shortage of motorcycles for field staff, affects the department’s capacity to collect accurate observations and disseminate reliable climate information