ZIMBABWE’s diverse, rich ecosystems are under threat today from climate change.
This is reality that poses serious problems with far reaching socio-economic, environmental and political consequences, particularly in developing countries with low adaptive capacity.
As a result, the impact of climate change is likely to hinder a country’s development, posing serious risks to food security, nutrition and adaptive capacity.
Other adverse effects of climate change include, but are not limited to, violent storms and floods, destruction of human and livestock shelters and other infrastructure; fields are washed away with rivers and dams, roads and bridges being swept away as we witnessed with Cyclone Idai.
To meet national food security objectives as well as the needs of stakeholders in specific landscapes, land-use planning and the management of natural resources need to be co-ordinated across sectors and through a participatory and consensus-based decision-making process.
Zimbabwe is already experiencing the debilitating effects of climate change which also threatens livestock and agriculture.
It is, therefore, imperative that climate-smart agriculture practices be developed and used to cope with the impact of the changing environment.
A study by the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), titled ‘Small Farms, Big Impacts: Mainstreaming Climate Change for Resilience and Food Security’ highlighted that “… climate change threatens the natural resource base across much of the developing world making agriculture risky”.
In recent years, the frequency and length of dry spells during the rainy season in Zimbabwe have noticeably increased.
Consequently, heat and water stress on natural ecosystems, agricultural crops and livestock have increased, which ultimately negatively affects agriculture communities in Zimbabwe that depend on agro-based livelihoods
In rural areas, where about 70 percent of Zimbabweans reside, climate change has already had a significant impact on their livelihoods, especially in the more drought-prone rural regions of Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, they continue to rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods which poses a serious threat to food and livestock production.
The recent unreliable and intermittent rainfall patterns have resulted in low agricultural output and productivity, as well as food and nutrition insecurity.
There is evidence that many of the effects of climate change are already occurring, including an increase in the surface water temperature of lakes and rivers.
It is likely that these trends will continue and that there will be changes in the flow regime of streams and rivers associated with projected changes in the amount, seasonality, intensity and distribution of precipitation.
This will cause an increase in the transport of sediments and nutrients downstream to lakes, as well as changes in precipitation, evaporation and flooding dynamics that will cause changes in water levels, habitat structure and water residence times in wetlands.
Climate change will also result in shifts in ecological conditions by supporting the spread of pathogens, parasites and diseases, with potentially serious effects on human health, agriculture and fisheries.
In addition, many smallholder farmers continue to follow environmentally harmful practices, like cutting down trees, slash and burn, flood irrigation and forest degradation as well as the widespread use of, and dependence on, synthetic fertilisers and harmful chemicals in crops and soils, which hinders the soil’s capacity to retain moisture and nutrients.
Climatologically, Zimbabwe has an extremely variable rainfall distribution, which will be exacerbated by climate change.
This will inevitably impact agriculture and the availability of water to sustain human activities.
Future impact of climate change is also likely to aggravate the harmful effects of poor land use practices, especially deforestation, soil degradation and water pollution.
Zimbabwe’s agricultural activities are threatened by climate change impact on rainfall. Climate change and variability will accelerate food insecurity, which is insidiously gaining traction. Furthermore, poor land-use practices in the form of unsustainable soil and water management compromised biodiversity and the unsuitable choice of crops are resulting in degradation of the resource base within which agriculture is anchored.
Studies by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on the impact of climate change in Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, verify that from 2050 until the end of this century, several phenomena are likely to be observed; including changes in the onset and cessation of rain seasons and a decrease in the total amount of rainfall; more frequent and prolonged mid-season droughts; reduced groundwater recharge; erratic spatial rainfall distribution across Zimbabwe, and temperature increases between 1°C and 3°C, which is greater than the global average.
Climate change is likely to result in reduced water supply for domestic and agriculture uses; the expansion and contraction of Natural Regions V and I respectively; degradation of natural resources, especially soil, water, natural vegetation, crops, livestock, and reduced food security because of the negative impact on agriculture
It is predicted that increasing temperatures will result in more frequent incidents of heat stress and increased infestations of pests and outbreaks of diseases, thus eroding the productivity of crops and livestock, as well as increasing expenditure on pesticides, herbicides and veterinary drugs. In addition, there are likely to be shifts of between four and six weeks in the onset and cessation of a rain season. This implies shifts in planting and harvesting dates, as well as changes to the length of the growing season and to the types of crops and livestock that are adaptable to these changes.
This will result in increased demands for irrigation and increased strain on groundwater resources to support crops and livestock, especially in areas where water is climatologically scarce.
The frequency of fires, both natural and anthropogenic, is likely to increase due to a combination of dry vegetation and high temperatures.
Wheat, maize and horticultural growing areas will shift in tandem with changes to the agro-ecological zones.
By 2050, the IPCC predicts maize yield losses of between 18-30 percent in Southern Africa, and the possibility of sorghum yields declining.
Crops such as cassava, groundnuts and roundnuts could benefit from enhanced CO2 levels while areas suitable for sorghum and cotton cultivation are likely to increase by 2080.
To combat these changes climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is being advocated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) as: “…agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, enhances the resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems, reduces and/or removes greenhouse gases (GHGs) and enhances the achievement of national food security and development goals.”
Climate-smart agriculture is the integration of agricultural development with climate responsiveness defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as: “…an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security in a changing climate.”
The aim is to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes; adapt and build resilience to climate change; and reduce and/or remove greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, where possible.
Because climate change impacts agriculture in different ways, this dictates the nature of climate-smart agriculture interventions.
The three CSA pillars – productivity, adaptation and mitigation — should be handled at different levels; namely, technological, organisational, institutional and political in order to achieve food security and broader development goals in a changing climate and increasing food demand.
Increased planning is vital in order to address trade-offs and synergies between the three pillars of productivity, adaptation and mitigation.
By addressing environmental and socio-economic issues across all productive zones, climate-smart agricultural practices co-ordinate the priorities of multiple countries and stakeholders in order to achieve more efficient, effective and equitable food systems.
While the concept of climate-smart agriculture is still new and evolving, many of the practices are already practised by farmers worldwide to cope with various production risks.
Zimbabwe also needs to adopt and adapt a rigorous approach to climate change that will have a positive impact across all environmental and agricultural sectors if we are to survive the threat of global warming that is threatening our very survival.
Dr Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher, industrial design consultant and is a published author in her field. For comments e-mail: linamanucci@gmail.com
