The main purpose of this report is to conceptualize an ex-ante risk management framework for weather risk in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The report lays out an overall food security policy context and analyzes the role of weather risk management techniques for food security at the national level, taking Malawi as a case study, and the regional level for the entire SADC region. Malawi was chosen as a case study because it is one of the more drought-prone countries in the region, and hence experiences chronic food crises, and is one of the members currently in the process of developing food security policy options. In addition, and rather significantly, Malawi is reputedly a sound source of weather-related data.