Obert Chifamba-Agri-Insight

At least 3 948 veld fire incidences plus 1 033 722,86 hectares of scorched land!

These are the glaring statistics that emerged from the just ended 2021 fire season after running its full course from July 31 to October 31.

And the protagonists in the blistering firestorm were a group of citizens called farmers who accounted for 42,81 percent of the fire holocaust pipping illegal mining activities that were responsible for 28,89 percent, closely followed cases of random fires (arson) at 28,3 percent.

Additional statistics availed by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) showed that veld fire incidences countrywide increased by 28,18 percent this year compared to last year when 1 178 fire incidences resulted in the loss of 806 457,84 hectares of land.

And, thanks to the plentiful biomass generated by the above normal rains that fell last season, the fires found abundant fuel that allowed them to claim four human lives and incinerate agricultural produce, equipment, various forms of biodiversity and plantations worth US$387 000.

But biomass or no biomass, the fact still remains that human activities on the back of some reckless attitude have been responsible for the bulk of veld fires if not all.

The majority of the fires have been recorded in the resettlement areas that accounted for 61,82 percent of the infernos, with communal lands taking 7,13 percent, commercial forests 7,97 percent, safari 7,88 percent, small-scale farms 7,05 percent, model A and D 5,56 percent, national parks 1,94 percent, urban areas 0,26 percent, recreational parks 0,12 percent and other land uses constituting 0,26 percent.

Significant losses have been registered in Mashonaland West, Manicaland and Mashonaland East. In fact, the causes of most veld fires this past fire season have been identified to be anthropogenic in nature specifically due to land clearing, arson, illegal mining, poor ash disposal and hunting, which leaves humankind as the chief culprit in all cases.

Facts on the ground show that when the fire season officially ended on October 31, the four most affected provinces by veld fires were Mashonaland West, Matabeleland North, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East.

Of course Mashonaland West was leading the pack as the hardest hit. The severity of the damage can still increase for all provinces since the first effective rains are yet to come for all provinces with EMA promising to continue monitoring the situation.

It is, however, the seemingly nonchalant attitude by farmers towards the adoption of measures that help reduce veld fire incidences that leaves more questions than answers given that agriculture is among the most hit industries by the rampaging veld fires every year with EMA voicing its disappointment over the low compliance levels by farmers when it comes to making standard fire guards to curb the free movement of fires across farms.

It does not require rocket science for any citizen to realise that during the dry season biomass is dry with windy conditions usually marking the order of the day, which is conducive for wild, uncontrolled and runaway fires that are destructive to the environment, human life, property and agricultural produce.

This makes it every citizen’s responsibility to make sure they comply with set regulations on reducing incidences of veld fires and make all the necessary efforts to prevent them.

EMA on the one hand may need to take off gloves and make sure every punishable offence meets with the appropriate penalty, while also making sure prosecuted cases are published to shame the perpetrators.

And while the agency has duly launched the current prosecution blitz on farms mostly for failure to have standard fire guards after realising the intensity of the destruction by veld fires, the move may have come a bit too late with veld fire inspired destruction having also included the loss of five human lives on top of the obvious property, crop and environmental damage typical of the fire season.

This makes it critical for EMA to work closely with law enforcement agencies to complement their accelerated education and awareness campaigns on veld fire management.

The issuance of tickets, veld fire environmental protection orders and opening of dockets must also be taken to higher levels with penalties being made stiffer and more deterrent to scare away would-be offenders.

Legislators must come up with laws that are very deterrent and make it scary for anyone to start a fire without having taken the necessary precautions to make it remains under control.

Essentially, the current scenario in veld fire incidences require increased efforts by all stakeholders to prevent the fires, mobilise the local structures to put out the fires and report the culprits to law enforcement agencies.

Community members, for instance, must be made to appreciate the importance of giving out critical information such as naming a person who has started a veld fire to law enforcement agencies to enable the law to take its course.

The idea of protecting offenders naturally prevents their prosecution, which comes at the expense of environmental goods and services, property and life, hence the need for communities to assist in law enforcement by providing information needed by law enforcement agencies.

And with the setting in of the 2021/22 cropping season, farmers are now busy readying their fields for planting and this involves opening up land for farming activities, which may require some of them to use fire.

But the reality on the ground is that most of the stuff to be cleared is still dry and can cause veld fires in the event of these fires going out of control.

Over 80 percent of veld fire incidences recorded to date this fire season were due to land clearing for agriculture.

It is, however, important to applaud the achievements done by the agency, especially on the construction of more than 35 484 kilometres of fire guards on farms and institutions across the country.

If such a feat could be replicated in many areas, then the problem of veld fires may easily be tamed, as fires would not have free passages from one point to the next.

EMA has also been behind the harvesting of 830 986 bales of thatch grass to reduce biomass on 246 905 kilometres countrywide, which means the agency deprived fires of the fuel load they thrive on while the bales of grass will be used for livestock feeding on the other hand, which is a bonus to the national efforts to re-build the national herd.