In June 2025, Andrew Mwape gathered with family, friends and NDMC colleagues to celebrate earning his Ph.D.Helping communities understand and adapt to drought is a lifelong passion for Andrew Mwape. He developed this interest in childhood by following the example of his great-grandfather.
“We were surrounded by trees, and he was careful in what we do with the environment. So my environmental interests and nature-based issues stem from childhood,” Mwape said. “When it was time for me to choose to go to college, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
Andrew’s first home was a rural village in Zambia. Like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia is often exposed to drought, with a heavy reliance on water resources for economic stability.
“Over 80% of the country’s energy is hydropower. Any disruption is huge,” he said. “I thought that specializing in climate assessment would contribute to overcoming the challenges.”
These interests and ambitions propelled him to graduate in May 2025 with a Ph.D. in Natural Resources, specializing in climate assessment and impacts.
During his undergraduate career, Mwape founded a nonprofit to inspire a culture of stewardship and sustainability called ZEACHO Zambia. Through his leadership, ZEACHO mobilized communities in Zambia to counteract environmental degradation by planting trees.
After gaining experience in environmental engineering in Zambia, Mwape came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on a Mandela Washington Fellowship. During his time in the program, he worked with Mike Hayes, climatology professor and National Drought Mitigation Center affiliated faculty, as his advisor.
Mwape focused his research on how people and institutions perceive and respond to drought. It's a timely topic, he said, amidst recurring and worsening droughts in southern Africa. It also addresses gaps in research.
“Most research focuses on the hydrology and data behind drought,” he said. “But nobody talks about how people actually perceive the approaches for risk management and response that are there.
When government says, ‘We are providing relief,’ does the relief actually help the people they are providing the relief to?”
For his dissertation, he first interviewed state drought managers across the U.S. and zoomed his focus into a case study in the Republican River Basin in southwest Nebraska. Then, he traveled to Zambia and conducted grassroots interviews with local government officials, water resource managers, utility managers, producers and small business owners in all 10 provinces. In total, he logged over 171 interviews.
In the U.S., Mwape saw how stakeholder participation boosted awareness of drought risks and clarified both individual and organizational responsibilities for managing drought risks.
In Zambia, Mwape found major gaps in drought risk management. However, he also witnessed a widespread knowledge of land management based in Indigenous Knowledge. Based on these findings, he recommends the continued integration of scientific and technological advancements with IK.
He took what he learned from dozens of conversations to develop recommendations to strengthen participation at individual and government levels, ultimately managing drought more effectively.
While drought management looks unique to each area, Mwape argues that a strategic and proactive approach is more important than ever as droughts increase in frequency and intensity.
His dissertation outlines strategies to integrate grassroots perspectives, scientific tools, and Indigenous Knowledge to build more inclusive and proactive drought preparedness systems.
“Climate situations like drought are inevitable futures of our societies,” he said. “So drought is an inevitable feature of every climate system whether we like it or not.
It’s up to us to determine how we want to face it and how we would like to be impacted by such occurrences. The sooner we realize that the better.”
As part of his research, he developed a framework to help governments systematically assess the quality, inclusiveness and effectiveness of stakeholder engagement in drought risk management. The Public Participation Evaluation Framework serves as a guide for policymakers seeking to elevate community voices, improve transparency and strengthen drought governance.
Post-degree, Mwape plans to continue making an impact in helping communities prepare for drought through a government or nonprofit role.
By focusing on the impacts of drought events as well as mitigation efforts, Mwape hopes to equip communities with the knowledge and tools they need to proactively face drought and its effects.
“Having been on the grassroots, these are challenges I saw before graduate school,” he said.