Strengthening Urban Climate Resilience: Socio-Economic and Institutional Drivers among Refugee Populations in Lilongwe, Malawi
- Milemo Lusambya, Let’s Be Transformed University
- Alphonsine Chalungu, Let’s Be Transformed University
- Steven Mbale, Let’s Be Transformed University
Summary:
Urban refugees face compounded climate vulnerabilities that remain poorly understood. While 71% of the world’s 35 million refugees now live in cities, research examining how socio-economic and institutional factors shape their climate resilience is virtually absent. This study investigated climate resilience drivers among refugee populations in Lilongwe, Malawi, where over 50,000 refugees experience recurrent flooding and water scarcity. Using mixed methods—surveys with 300 refugee households, interviews with 20 institutional stakeholders, and 6 focus group discussions—we examined how socioeconomic support mechanisms and institutional frameworks influence adaptive capacity. Results revealed that access to micro-insurance, cash transfers, and community savings groups significantly enhanced resilience, with households accessing three or more support mechanisms scoring 30 points higher on resilience indices than those without access. However, only 7-34% of refugees accessed these mechanisms. Institutional barriers systematically excluded refugees from municipal climate adaptation planning, with refugee neighborhoods receiving infrastructure investments at merely 8.6% the rate of comparable host community areas. Property ownership restrictions created cascading exclusions from financial services and participatory governance. These findings demonstrate that refugee climate resilience requires both scaling accessible support mechanisms and advocating institutional reforms enabling refugee inclusion in urban climate adaptation systems
This research was part of a multi-country research initiative led by the Global Disaster Preparedness Center of the American Red Cross. Access all final publications here.