About Us

Dr. Stern Mwakalimi Kita is an Assistant Professor in Integrated Emergency Management and Business Continuity. Before joining Rabdan, Dr. Stern worked with the United Nations and Malawi Government in disaster risk management and climate change and program management. He has also taught in Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in disaster risk management at a local public university since 2018. Dr. Stern has provided his expertise to a myriad of organizations, including Lochan & Co, the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Habitat, United Nations University, the government and many NGOs such as Trocaire, Christian Aid, United Purpose, Care International, Concern Worldwide and Oxfam. His consultancy roles have primarily centered around disaster risk management, social protection, climate change adaptation, project evaluation and policy development. He has researched and published in disaster risk management, climate change and environment.

Academic Qualifications

PhD Geography focusing on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom;

MSc in Environment and Development, focusing on disaster and climate risk management from Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland

Postgraduate Diploma in Social Research Methods, University of Sussex, United Kingdom;

Bachelor of Arts, Humanities, University of Malawi, Malawi




Other Professional Training Programs

Certificate in Loss and Damage in context of Climate Risk Management, GIZ, Tanzania, 2020

Certificate in Training of Trainers in Disaster Risk Management, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Thailand, 2019

Certificate in Economic Justice in Africa: Climate Change, Inequalities and Development, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, Mozambique, 2017

Certificate in Training of Trainers in Disaster Simulation Exercise, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Malawi, 2013

Certificate in International Disaster Management Programme, Singapore Civil Defence Academy, Singapore, 2011

Certificate in Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction Concepts into Sustainable Policies, Plans, Programmes and Budgets, Institute for Housing and Urban Studies and the World Bank, Netherlands, 2010

Certificate in Introduction to Vulnerability Risk Assessment, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2010

Diploma in Disaster Planning, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and Defence Institute for Medical Operations, United States of America, 2010

Certificate in Results Based Programme Management, Malawi Institute of Management, Malawi, 2010

Certificate in Disasters and Development – Reducing Risks, Protecting Livelihoods, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2009

Certificate in Trainer of Trainers in Education in Emergencies, UNICEF & Ministry of Education, Malawi, 2009

Integrated Emergency Management and Business Continuity

• Disaster risk financing and governance
• Risk communication and perception
• Systemic and cascading risks
• Resilience and building back better in post-emergency recovery and reconstruction
• International humanitarian law and standards
• Community-based and indigenous emergency management systems and practices 

• Kita, S. M. 2019. Barriers or enablers? Chiefs, elite capture, disasters and resettlement in rural Malawi. Disasters, 43(1), pp. 135-156.
• Kita, S. M. and Raleigh, C. 2018. “Environmental migration and international political security: rhetoric, reality and questions,” In F. Gemenne & R. McLeman (eds.) Routledge handbook of environmental displacement and migration, pp. 356-369. London: Routledge
• Kita S.M., 2017. Adapting or maladapting? Climate change, climate variability, disasters and resettlement in Malawi. PhD Thesis, Brighton: University of Sussex.
• Kita, S. M. 2017. Urban vulnerability, disaster risk reduction and resettlement in Mzuzu city, Malawi. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 22, pp. 158-166.
• Kita, S. M. 2017. ‘Government doesn’t have the muscle’: state, NGOs, local politics and disaster risk governance in Malawi. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 8(3), pp. 244-267.
• Kita, S. M. 2017. Can we build back better? Lessons from floods recovery framework development and implementation in Malawi. African Perspectives on Disaster Risk Reduction, 1(1), pp. 10-15.
• Kita, S. M. 2017. Researching peers and disaster vulnerable communities: An insider perspective. The Qualitative Report, 22(10), pp. 2600-2611.
• Kita, S. M., 2014. Is cash transfer a better devil than food aid? A study of Malawi’s use of cash transfer as a response tool to food insecurity in 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. New York: UN OCHA.