The Malawians braving climate shocks and red tape to make banana wine

Global warming has shrunk crop yields in farming communities. Some have poured their frustration into making wine.

Karonga, Malawi – Regina Mukandawire has been growing bananas on her small farm in the Karonga district in northern Malawi for more than 16 years. But heatwaves, floods and disease outbreaks that have hit the country since 2010 have gradually reduced her yields from half a tonne to only a few buckets per harvest.

“If it’s extremely hot, ripe bananas will quickly rot, meaning you won’t be able to sell them,” the 38-year-old mother of six told Al Jazeera. “Again, when floods happen, the trees are affected, and heavy storms can actually destroy a whole farm.”

Malawi is suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change despite being one of the world’s lowest emitters of greenhouse gases. The dry spell caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon during the 2016-2017 season also left a third of the country’s 18 million people in dire need of food assistance.

Two years later, when Cyclone Idai hit, small businesses incurred $20m in losses, and two million people were pushed into extreme poverty, says Mathews Malata, co-chairperson for the Movement for Environmental Action, a Lilonge-based advocacy group.

That impact has continued today, he told Al Jazeera.