A geospatial assessment of the impact of flood in support to the restoration of irrigation schemes in Malawi

Ghosh, A.; Adhikari, S.; Mushtaq, F.; Jalal, R.; Gauny, J.; Tataris, M.; Barelli, D.; Merzouk, Q.; Moloinyane, S.; Mugo, M.; Naeem, M.; AmayaOrtiz, L.; Henry, M.;

A geospatial assessment of the impact of flood in support to the restoration of irrigation schemes in Malawi

Autores

Ghosh, A.; Adhikari, S.; Mushtaq, F.; Jalal, R.; Gauny, J.; Tataris, M.; Barelli, D.; Merzouk, Q.; Moloinyane, S.; Mugo, M.; Naeem, M.; AmayaOrtiz, L.; Henry, M.;

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

In early 2022, the Southern and Central provinces of Malawi have been impacted by various extreme events such as tropical Storm Ana in January followed by tropical cyclone Gombe in March. The strong winds and flooding including flash flood events caused severe damages to crops and irrigation infrastructures. Irrigation infrastructures play an important role in providing food and livelihood to a large part of the population as agriculture sector in Malawi employs 76.36 percent of the total population. On the other hand extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Malawi and appraisal of the damages is difficult with limited information. In this context, the Geospatial unit at the Land and Water Division (NSL) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in close collaboration with the country office and Irrigation Department provided technical assistance to the Government of Malawi to assess the impact of flood using innovative geospatial technologies in support to the restoration of irrigation schemes. The majority of the large-scale irrigation infrastructure of the country is located in the south of the country, mainly in Chikwawa and Nsanje districts.