Towards a framework for loss and damage programming: insights from Malawi

Malawi's exposure to climate-induced extremes reveals gaps in loss and damage (L&D) governance, especially with respect to non-economic losses that lie outside of standard post-disaster accounts. Drawing on household loss inventories, participatory mapping, geospatial analysis, and community consultations in the districts of Nsanje and Zomba, this study develops and tests an operational L&D programming framework. The framework organises community-reported economic and non-economic losses, coded for salience, severity, persistence, and reversibility, into a theme-by-site matrix linked to geospatial hazard footprints. It then links this evidence to attribution and finance cues that clarify when climate finance, disaster risk reduction, or humanitarian instruments are most appropriate. The results show systematic undervaluation of non-economic loss, spatially clustered burdens, and finance needs that exceed current pilot initiatives. Centred on Malawi in southeast Africa yet designed for wider adaptation, the framework offers a transferable model for climate vulnerable countries seeking credible and equitable L&D governance.