GLOBALISATION is erasing our geographic boundaries and causing a shift towards collaboration and communities of interest, yet our local communities remain important for crisis management and immediate response.
Climate change is a reality affecting the entire globe in diverse ways.
Information technology and accurate data capture are essential for a proactive strategy.
During the 20th Century, global warming has been estimated at between 0.26 and 0.5°C per decade and is expected to continue or even increase significantly, with the resultant impact on livelihoods.
The average atmospheric and oceanic temperatures across the earth will rise due to climate change.
This will cause widespread melting of snow and ice at the poles.
The extra water from this melting will cause sea levels to rise and weather patterns to change across the planet.
Extreme events, including storms, droughts and floods, will be more frequent.
Everyone will be affected, especially people in developing countries, due to their location, economic status and the burdens which they already bear, including hunger, poverty and disease.
In Zimbabwe, climate change is a major risk to good development outcomes.
There is no doubt that climate change will affect the lives of every person on this planet no matter who they are or where they live.
Climate change will threaten food and water security and human health as well as social, economic and political stability.
It will reshape societies and change the natural world as we know it.
By degrading and depleting the very resources on which life depends, climate change could reverse many of the development gains made by most African countries, including Zimbabwe, during recent decades and could hamper development efforts.
Climate change will exacerbate hardship and poverty among the people of Zimbabwe.
Women, children and the disabled, especially those living in rural areas, will be the worst affected.
The renowned resilience of Zimbabweans will be put to the test to develop effective coping strategies.
According to the Zimbabwe Draft Response to Climate Change (2013), the Government of Zimbabwe regards climate change as a potential threat that undermines positive development made thus far in meeting the UN millennium development goals, especially Goal 1 which is aimed at eradicating extreme world hunger.
Zimbabwe has demonstrated its willingness to contribute to the preservation of the global climate for sustainable development through the formulation of the Zimbabwe National Environmental Policy and Strategies which covers issues of climate change.
The Government of Zimbabwe submitted its Initial Adaptation Communication (AdCom) in response to the Paris Agreement (Article 7, Paragraph 10) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to inform the synthesis of the 2023 Global Stock take.
The AdCom provides information on progress the country has made in the implementation of its adaptation programmes; it also outlines the barriers, experiences and climate change adaptation actions that are still in need of support as well as recommendations for the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) under development.
Zimbabwe’s AdCom was informed by the Zimbabwe’s Revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the National Communication reports as well as Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) reports, among other works conducted in the country.
It strives to increase the visibility and profile of adaptation and its balance with mitigation, strengthen adaptation action and support as well as enhance learning and understanding of adaptation needs and actions.
It presents aspects of the country’s vision to climate change, which stresses adaptation as of primary importance to the country and is high on the Government’s agenda to guarantee resilience and the welfare of the people.
The updated NDC submitted to the UNFCCC, in 2021, reflects the commitments made in the country’s National Development Strategy 1: 2021-25 (NDS1) which states that Zimbabwe is seeking to shift to a climate-resilient, low-emissions economy as key elements of the economic strategy.
The NDC Implementation Framework includes actions and priority projects for the implementation for both adaptation and mitigation.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies vary from place to place and even within the same country.
Studies that look at area-specific responses are important for creating a national and global database for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Effective management of climate change-induced challenges require localised strategies which may vary from one area or part of the world to another and even within a country. In view of the need to understand localised impacts and responses to climate change.
Studies to assess the impact of climate change on livelihoods and food security as well as to identify and evaluate adaptation and mitigation strategies for rural smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe were carried out to understand how climatic transformation has been threatening the sustainability of subsistence or smallholder agriculture in these areas. Findings showed that climate change had a significant negative impact on the livelihoods and food security status of smallholder farmers
Mitigation strategies used included reforestation programmes, avoidance of veld fires and preservation of wetlands. The findings of the studies also indicated the need for similar assessments in other parts of the country as impacts of climate change and responses generally vary from place to place.
Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) states that: “Climate change is the biggest threat to humanity today,” and this is at a time when many parts of the world already experience environmental degradation, water shortages, poverty, hunger and inequality. However, many citizens, activists, scientists and policymakers hope that if we rise to the challenge of climate change, it could become our best chance to make the world a better place. Zimbabwe stands ready to participate in the Global Goal on Adaptation and to implement its provisions.
Dr Tony M. Monda is currently conducting veterinary epidemiology, agro-economic and food security research in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. He holds a PhD, DVM and a DBA.E-mail: “mailto:tonym.MONDA@gmail.com”