Africa’s climate adaption: How Zimbabwe is reimagining agriculture as it goes from being bread basket to food importer

Climate
change
has
gradually
wiped
off
the
surplus
from
the
country’s
rainfed
agriculture.
Realising
that
the
good
old
times
are
gone
for
good,
the
African
country
is
now
racing
to
implement
an
array
of
climate
adaptation
strategies.

Significant
vulnerability

Zimbabwe
is
particularly
vulnerable
to
climate
change
because
of
its
geographic
location,
heavy
reliance
on
rainfed
agriculture
and
susceptibility
to
extreme
weather
events,
according
to
the
World
Bank.
As
a
result,
the
country’s
food
security,
water
resources
and
overall
economic
stability
are
threatened.

Ranked
among
the
top
20
countries
most
affected
by
extreme
weather
between
2000
and
2019
by
the Global
Climate
Risk
Index,
Zimbabwe
is
experiencing
an
increasingly
warming
trend,
with
more
frequent
and
intense
heatwaves,
and
longer,
more
severe
droughts. The
country’s
mean
annual
temperature
rose
by
about
0.03°C
per
year
from
1970
to
2016
and
is
expected
to
rise
by
1-
1.5°C
by
2040,
potentially
exceeding
3°C
by
2050,
a United
Nations
Environment
Programme
report showed.

With
80
per
cent
of
the
country’s
agriculture
reliant
on
rain,
increasingly
frequent
and
longer
droughts,
shorter
rainy
seasons
and
hotter
temperatures,
cyclones
and
floods
have
turned
this
landlocked
African
country
that
was
once
considered
the continent’s
bread
basket into
one
that
increasingly
relies
on food
imports and donations.

Experts
also
trace
the
increase
in
pests
and
diseases
affecting
crop
yields
to
the
warmer
conditions
related
to
climate
change.

Irrigation
for
350,000
hectares

The
government
has
started
promoting
irrigation,
conservation
farming
and
water-harvesting
to
ensure
the
survival
of
the
agriculture
sector,
on
which
70
per
cent
of
the
population
depends
for
employment
and
sustenance.

“A
comprehensive
irrigation
development
strategy
is
being
implemented,” Professor
Obert
Jiri,
permanent
secretary,
ministry
of
lands
and
agriculture,
told DTE.

The
strategy
targets
irrigation
development
using
idle
waterbodies
(existing
dams)
and
dams
under
construction,
he
shared.
“Zimbabwe
is
currently
the
most
dammed
country
in
sub-Saharan
Africa,
with
more
than
10,700
dams
already
storing
water,
most
of
which
is
underutilised.”

A
total
of
221,000
hectares
is
currently
under
irrigation,
the
minister
shared.
“But
this
includes
about
100,000
hectares
under
plantation
crops,
leaving
about
120,000
hectares
for
cereal
production.”

Jiri
said
for
the
country
to
return
to
its
former
glory
of
being
the
bread
basket
of
the
region,
some
350,000
hectares
of
farmland
has
to
be
put
under
irrigation,
and
this
is
what
the
government
is
working
towards.

Zimbabwe
is
not
the
only
country
that
was
late
to
adopt
irrigation
to
climate-proof
farming
—
the
problem
is
felt
across
the
continent.
Only
six
per
cent
of
Africa’s
cultivated
land
is
under
irrigation,
which
poorly
compares
with
other
regions
such
as
Latin
America
(14
per
cent)
and
Asia
(37
per
cent),
according
to
a
2018
report Water-wise:
Smart
Irrigation
Strategies
for
Africa by
the Malabo
Montpellier
Panel of
agricultural
experts.

Water-harvesting
and
conservation
farming

The
government
is
also
establishing
900
pilot
and
learning
sites
to
promote
integrated
rainwater
harvesting.
This
follows
a
study
by
a
local
university
that
proved
the
technique
to
be
an
effective
climate
change
adaptation
and
mitigation
strategy,
especially
for
smallholder
farmers
who
constitute
the
bulk
of
the
farmers
in
Zimbabwe.

Because
of
colonial
land
distribution
patterns,
most
of
the
country’s
1.5
million
small-holder
farmers
—
those
with
less
than
10
hectares
of
land
—
are
largely
found
in
arid
and
semi-arid
parts
of
the
country.

For
over
a
decade,
George
Nyamadzawo,
professor
of
soil
and
environmental
science
at
Bindura
University
of
Science
Education
in
Zimbabwe,
worked
with
smallholder
farmer
communities
in
the
Marange
area,
an
arid
area
on
the
eastern
part
of
the
country,
to
study
water
harvesting
techniques.

From
their
research,
Nyamadzawo
and
his
team
established
that
contour
ridges
and
infiltration
pits
can
reduce
soil
and
water
loss
from
runoff
by
more
than
50
per
cent
and
75
per
cent
respectively,
while
increasing
crop
yields
by
up
to
seven
times
from
0.4
tonnes
/
hectare
to
3
t
/
ha.

“We
were
promoting
tied
contours,
infiltration
pits
and
other
water
harvesting
technology
as
methods
that
can
be
used
by
farmers
in
dry
regions
such
as
these,”
Nyamadzawo
explained.

“After
integrating
tight
contours
and
infiltration
pits,
we
managed
to
increase
crop
yields
to
at
least
three
tonnes
per
hectare.”

He
added
that
some
of
the
farmers
realised
maize
yields
of
4-6
t
/
ha,
while
vegetable
production
increased
10
times.

This
water-harvesting
strategy
is
being
implemented
together
with
a
conservation
farming
method
that
is
called pfumvudza,
a
concept
that
emphasises
efficient
use
of
resources
on
small
plots,
aiming
for
optimal
management
and
increased
productivity.

Climate
change
expert
Peter
Makwanya
told Down
To
Earth (DTE) that
as
water
becomes
increasingly
scarce
due
to
climate
change,
the
future
of
farming
is
in
irrigation,
conversation
farming
and
improved
disease
and
pest
management.
“This
makes
water
harvesting
and
conservation
fundamental.”

Health
impacts

Climate
change
is
also
having
an
effect
on
the
country’s
health
outcomes,
particularly
for
vulnerable
populations.
Vector-borne
diseases
like
malaria
are
becoming
more
prevalent
due
to
shifting
climate
patterns,
while
others
like
cholera,
typhoid
and
dysentery
easily
flourish
in
conditions
of
limited
water
supplies.

“Harare
(City
Council)
is
producing
around
320
megalitres
of
water
per
day
and
demand
on
a
daily
basis
is
1,200
megalitres,
leaving
most
residents
without
water,
resulting
in
a
situation
where
some
of
them
resort
to
unsafe
water
sources,”
Community
Water
Alliance
(CWA)
coordinator
Hardlife
Mudzingwa
told DTE.

To
improve
the
water
supply
situation,
the
government
is
currently
undertaking
an
ambitious
programme
to
drill 35,000
solar-powered
boreholes in
both
urban
and
rural
areas.
“The
boreholes
are
helping
improve
access
to
water
for
many
people,”
Mudzingwa
said.

Other
climate
vulnerabilities

In
addition
to
agriculture,
water
and
health,
other
sectors
such
as
electricity,
forestry
and
biodiversity,
as
well
as
infrastructure
and
human
settlements
are
also
highly
exposed
to
the
depredations
of
climate
change.

It
is
also
causing
grazing
and
water
shortages
as
well
as
the
heat
stress
that
threaten
the
survival
of
the
country’s
wildlife
species,
especially
those
sensitive
to
heat,
such
as
elephants,
of
which
the
country
already
has
an
oversized
population.

A 2020
study
in
Hwange
National
Park projected
a
reduction
of
40
per
cent
of
elephant
habitat
by
2050
and
a
change
in
elephant
population
distribution
because
of
climate
change.

The
Hwange
National
Park,
home
to
the
bulk
of
Zimbabwe’s
100,000-plus
elephants,
is
now
increasingly
relying
on
boreholes
for
water,
and
some
of
the
boreholes
have
to
be
deepened
regularly
as
the
water
table
drops
further.

Final
summary:
Zimbabwe,
once
a
thriving
agricultural
exporter,
now
struggles
with
food
insecurity
due
to
climate
change.
Rising
temperatures,
droughts
and
erratic
rainfall
have
devastated
rainfed
farming.
The
government
is
promoting
irrigation,
water
harvesting,
and
conservation
methods
to
adapt.
Climate
change
also
threatens
public
health,
wildlife,
and
water
access,
highlighting
the
urgent
need
for
sustainable,
climate-resilient
strategies
across
sectors.