HomeOld_PostsDrought, floods disrupt fight against poverty

Drought, floods disrupt fight against poverty

Published on

AT the rate at which natural disasters are occurring, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whose objective is to end poverty and hunger by 2030, is becoming a far off dream.
The 17 SDGs, adopted in September 2015, have 169 targets and 204 indicators.
But these targets would be difficult to meet as floods and drought continue to wreak havoc, setting back communities’ efforts to eradicate poverty.
Zimbabwe, like many other countries, has not been spared and is grappling with the devastating effects of droughts and floods.
The El-Nino and La-Nina phenomena have destroyed homes, contaminated water sources and destroyed businesses.
In Matabeleland, Midlands, Manicaland, Masvingo and Harare provinces, the floods left 1 985 people homeless, 246 dead and 100 injured.
The Tsholotsho District was the hardest hit, with at least 859 people left homeless.
The victims in Matabeleland were evacuated to Sipepa Clinic last month where they have been staying while Government and its partners work towards rebuilding the shattered lives.
So far, 234 families have agreed to relocate to Sawudeni Village where 94 stands have already been pegged to accommodate them.
Villagers in the various communities have, over the years, been rebuilding their communities.
Many were still recovering from the ravages of 1992 which wrought one of the worst droughts in the history of the country.
Men and women have been hard at work filling their granaries and building their livestock herds.
The advent of the Land Reform Programme saw many acquiring fertile pieces of land.
And through Government agricultural input programmes, many had managed to rebuild and acquire numerous assets.
But all these have been destroyed by recurrent droughts and floods in recent years.
In the period April 2016 to March 2017, at least US$215 million has been mobilised for drought relief programmes.
The torrents that have fallen in recent months have set back the development agenda.
A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry, while a drought is a period of below-average precipitation in a given region, resulting in prolonged shortages of water supply, whether atmospheric, surface or ground water.
A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days.
While we have had weather forecasts and other early warning systems put in place with the help of the United Nations to help guide our planning purposes and to adapt to the weather conditions, we seem to have failed to deal with these vagaries of weather.
The question that arises is whether we were accurate in our forecasts to warrant mitigation of the disaster we find ourselves in?
Government recently launched a US$200 million domestic and international appeal for humanitarian assistance for the flood victims.
It is estimated that to repair the damage done to the infrastructure (dams, bridges and roads among others) would cost at least US$200 million.
The Chinese Government, through its ambassador, has donated 20 000t of rice and 10 000t of fertiliser.
At least US$50 000 was raised from the Chinese Red Cross while the Chinese residents in Zimbabwe mobilised US$10 000 to rebuild infrastructure.
This week, Chinese Ambassador Huang Ping announced that his Government would donate US$1million in an effort to continue supporting those affected.
Sirak Gebrehiwot, UN Communications specialist, says there is need for countries to ensure preparedness by prioritising such issues.
“The UN’s role is to help deal with such disasters by capacity strengthening especially in early warning signs. It is not only natural calamity but Government structures that must be prepared and integrated.
“There are competing crises with nine out of the 16 peace-keeping missions being in Africa. Close to US$8billion, which goes to some of these crises, could be used in development issues than conflicts.
“The universal humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality help guide us on the cases that we see on the ground. Otherwise the overall strategy to counter and mitigate the effects of climate change is by tackling its root causes through resilience building, agricultural reform, irrigation, water harvesting and management for longer-term impact,” said Gebrehiwot.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest articles

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

The contentious issue of race

 By Nthungo YaAfrika AS much as Africans would want to have closure to many of...

More like this

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

Discover more from Celebrating Being Zimbabwean

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading