Understanding The Issues - Hotseating Profiles Worksheets

H Oxfam Education
www.oxfam.org.uk/education
Mary Sande
Mary on a small plot of land she has started to prepare.
Location: Chikwawa, in the Lower Shire area of Southern Malawi, which is an area at risk
from food insecurity.
Family: Mary has 4 children*
Livelihood: Farmer
How is climate change affecting Mary’s livelihood?
Maize requires at least 3 months to mature, and farmers rely on rain at the right time. Small
changes can make the difference between a good maize harvest and a poor one – and
sometimes no harvest at all. This has meant that many farmers are only harvesting enough
food to feed their families for 3 or 4 months.
Scientists who have looked at the impact of climatic trends on maize have found evidence
that in Malwai dry spell lengths are increasing. Previously rainfall patterns were predictable,
and rainfall events could be used to time farming activities.
“Now, if you miss the first rains it means you are not going to get anything. This has made life
really hard and I am having to find other ways to bring in an income*”
*Information in italics is created by the author bearing in mind what you might expect in Malawi– other
information is based on fact
Copyright © Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 1
H Oxfam Education
Martin Chiumia
Location: Msaka
Family: Martin has a big family who rely on him to sell fish*
Livelihood: He fishes in Lake Malawi, which is so large it is almost an inland sea. Fish from
the lake provide an important source of protein for people’s diets, and vital income for the
many fishermen who use traditional methods to catch fish on the lake.
How is climate change affecting this person’s livelihood?
The catch of fish from Lake Malawi has dropped by 20,000 tonnes annually since the 1990s.
Fishermen say the winds, which are so important for their ability to catch the shoals of fish,
are changing. Rainfall has also dropped, by perhaps 10-15% over the last decade.
“We catch much less fish now. We used to catch them close to the shore, now we have to go
into deeper water and use a lot of fuel and what we get doesn’t always pay for the cost.
Because I am catching less fish and spending more on fuel I am finding it difficult to make
ends meet*”
H Oxfam Education
Manuel Grant
Location: Blantyre
Family: I have a family to feed
Livelihood: Charcoal trader
Farmers sell wood as a back up when crops fail. Cutting down the trees is illegal, and makes
the drought worse.
There is so much deforestation in the area that traders are having to travel further to find
farmers selling wood.
How has life been affected by climate change?
Charcoal Seller Manuel Grant has walked 60km to buy the charcoal to sell at the market in
Blantyre.
“We know have to walk a lot further to buy wood*. People cut down trees, and make them into
charcoal – we buy this load for 600 kwacha (£2) and we sell it in Blantyre for 1900 (£6.30) It’s
hard work, but there’s no other jobs. And I have a family to feed in Blantyre.”
H Oxfam Education
Esther Chanache
Age: 69
Location: Tsite,
Family: She looks after her grandchildren and 2 orphans who have lost their parents to
AIDS*.
Women are traditionally responsible for both looking after their family and collecting water or
firewood. Because of this, droughts are affecting women more than men as water and wood
becomes more difficult to collect.
How has Esther’s life been affected by climate change?
“We women have largely been affected in terms of fetching water. Previously the rivers would
run all year round but now when the rains stop the rivers dry up. We have to walk long
distances. “Fortunately for us the government installed a borehole. But that borehole is 2.5 km
away and we have to queue a long time”.
H Oxfam Education
Ebbie Mwakasungula
Location: Village Headman in Karonga
How is climate change affecting this person’s village?
“These days floods affect even villages and occur anytime during the rainy season. Previously
people would relocate to higher grounds during the rainy season to avoid floods but these
days even people settled in areas considered higher ground are also affected by floods.”
Flooding destroys crops, and can ruin farmer’s livelihoods, as well as risking the lives of
villagers and increasing diseases such as malaria and cholera.
Other problems created by the floods include the loss of banana plants grown by the riverside
which the community previously relied upon.
Ebbie says “I feel responsible for my communities problems, and in helping them to respond –
all we can do is work harder to get though the food shortfall or get paid to work on other
people’s fields*”.
H Oxfam Education
Estella Njolo
Age: 54
Location: Kunthembwe
Family: Estela is a widow and is having trouble finding the money to pay for her elder son at
polytechnic, where he’s studying journalism. Four more children are living at home – they
need 5000 (£18) a year each for school fees.
Livelihood: Subsistence maize Farmer
“The weather’s not like when I was a child, rainfall doesn’t come when we expect it. It should
come when the maize growing the hairy tufts that protrude from the cob, that’s when it needs
all the water. This year we’ve had good rain but it’s May, and it’s still raining! We need sun
now to dry the harvested maize.”
“When I was a child there were trees everywhere for fire wood. People were more content,
they used to help each other. Now they don’t. Only the creator knows what will happen.”

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H Oxfam Education

Mary on a small plot of land she has started to prepare.

How is climate change affecting this person’s livelihood?

How has life been affected by climate change?

How is climate change affecting this person’s livelihood?

How has Esther’s life been affected by climate change?

Location: Village Headman in Karonga

How is climate change affecting this person’s village?

How is climate change affecting this person’s livelihood?

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