CLEAR-AA Trains Government Officials in Malawi on Social Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures
In July 2024, the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) delivered a training course on Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP) in Blantyre, southern Malawi.
Almost 30 trainees from government ministries, including gender, local government, environmental affairs and agriculture, attended the three-and-a-half-day training course aimed at strengthening adherence to SECAP standards—related to social, environmental and climate assessment procedures—in projects funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The training, supported by Helvetas, an independent Swiss development organization, included a visit to the IFAD-funded Mlooka solar-powered irrigation scheme to put theory on reinforcing stakeholder mapping learned in the classroom into practice in the field and included a mini-audit. During the audit, five groups of approximately six trainees studied documentation, interviewed stakeholders, conducted site observations, checked contractor’s actions and reviewed project management unit requirements.
By the end of the training, participants should be able to apply SECAP standards requirements at the project design and implementation phases while adhering to environmental impact assessment laws in Malawi. Trainees were also encouraged to identify priorities and challenges associated with social impact assessment, climate change, stakeholder engagement, grievance redress mechanisms, monitoring, inspections, and compliance auditing in their respective departments.
IFAD representatives for rural irrigation development, sustainable agricultural production, financial access to rural markets, small-holder enterprises, and the transformation of agriculture through diversification and entrepreneurship projects were also present at the training.
‘’I wish we had this SECAP training sooner in the project,” said Limbani Gomani, an engineer from the Programme for Rural Irrigation Development (PRIDE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and one of the training participants.