What are we funding?
GRANT AMOUNT | ENDORSEMENT DATE | ACTIVITIES | INSTRUMENTS SUPPORTED | WB PROJECT |
| US$21 million | October 3, 2019 | Grant 1: Using disaster risk finance to make the social cash transfer program shock-responsive (i.e., capable of being scaled up in the event of a disaster). |
| Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (P169198) US$ 312.5 M (approved on December 10, 2019) |
US$10 million | December 12, 2024 | Grant 2: Continuing to scale up the Social Cash Transfer Programme and Climate Smart Public Works Programme by developing a new risk transfer instrument that covers additional perils and complements Malawi’s existing contingency funds. Continue streamlining the use of CDRFI within the country and integrate CDRFI initiatives with regional programs such as REPAIR | The second grant will be mapped to the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (SSRLP, P169198) and its successor project expected to be effective by October 2026. It will also be closely aligned and co-finance risk finance instruments arranged under the Regional Emergency Preparedness & Access to Inclusive Recovery Project (REPAIR, P181014) US$ 280 M (approved on July 30, 2024) | |
| US$7 million | Grant 3: Support a shock-responsive climate risk financing mechanism, linked to a Partial Credit Guarantee Facility, to enable climate financing to climate-exposed SMEs and exporters currently excluded from the market to be able to access the Guarantee Facility; Provide technical assistance to establish the shock-responsive mechanism, and strengthen capacity for program implementation and expansion of DRF-related activities. | Malawi - Transforming High-potential Resilient Value Chains (M-THRiVE, P508803) US$ 56.00 million (approved on May 6, 2026) |
Grant 1
- For more than two decades, Malawi has invested in strengthening its social safety nets, which have kept the country’s poorest populations from falling further into poverty. Thanks to small regular payments provided through the flagship Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP), families have not been forced to choose among essential household expenditures such as school fees or food. The financial resilience they have built remains tenuous, however. In 2019, the World Bank committed US$312.5 million in IDA lending to strengthen Malawi’s social safety net program.
- A US$21 million GSFF grant has been instrumental in supporting two DRF instruments that allow Malawi’s flagship Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) to scale up and be used for emergency response.
- A US$21 million contingency fund, currently protects at least 1.2 million people from moderate droughts, while a US$11 million macro/ sovereign risk transfer instrument protects an additional 600,000 people from severe droughts for a period of two years.
- Since grant inception, drought has led to three scale-ups of the SCTP, which have provided more than 236,000 households with emergency transfers totaling just under US$20 million.
- The GSFF grant has supported the improvement of payment and registration systems for beneficiaries, as well as capacity building, legal reforms, and the codification of standard operating procedures for DRF instruments.
Grant 2
- In addition to expanding the coverage provided by the SCTP and Climate Smart Public Works Programme (PWP), the government seeks to streamline its use of CDRFI by consolidating the drought policy it purchased with support from the GSFF with the policy it has through the African Development Bank and ARC Ltd. Malawi has joined the World Bank’s REPAIR program, which is supported by GSFF and offers participating countries three layers of financial protection against climate events that range in frequency and severity: a reserve instrument, contingent financing, and parametric insurance products.
- The GSFF Steering Committee has endorsed a US$10 million grant for Malawi to continue making shock-responsive financing more available for distribution through social protection channels. Greater financial capacity, coverage of additional perils, and improvements to e-payment systems will ensure that more affected households receive emergency payments in a timely manner.
- Improvements to the social protection systems would complement World Bank–financed operations that aim to increase Malawi’s use of CDRFI instruments. This includes the REPAIR program, a new US$306 million regional climate fund through which participating countries can secure a wider range of financial solutions for post-shock response. REPAIR is a platform shared by countries in Southern Africa that pools resources and lowers technical and financial barriers to using CDRFI instruments.
Grant 3
The "Malawi - Transforming High-potential Resilient Value Chains (M-THRiVE) program" includes a US$7 million GSFF grant, of which US$6 million is included as part of a US$56 million World Bank Group lending program. The GSFF grant will support:
- A shock-responsive climate risk financing mechanism, linked to a Partial Credit Guarantee Facility, to enable climate financing to climate-exposed SMEs and exporters currently excluded from the market to be able to access the Guarantee Facility.
Technical assistance to establish the shock-responsive mechanism, and strengthen capacity of Reserve Bank of Malawi, Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation, and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralization for program implementation and expanding their climate and disaster risk finance related activities.
Useful links
- Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project (P169198)
- Using Disaster Risk Financing to Build Adaptive Social Protection for Climate Shocks in Malawi
- Financing Adaptive Social Protection for Drought in Malawi to Protect the Vulnerable
- Regional Emergency Preparedness & Access to Inclusive Recovery Project (REPAIR, P181014)
- Malawi - Transforming High-potential Resilient Value Chains (M-THRiVE)