Sydney Kawadza Senior Features Writer
A Chinese consultant visiting Zimbabwe had nothing but praise for the sunshine he was basking in during his visit. It was not surprising because in Hong Kong, where he is based, the sun never shines. On the rare occasions the sun appears behind the smog, clouds or whatever weather phenomenon being endured that time, everything grinds to a halt.
On such a day, people in Hong Kong would rather miss work to enjoy the sun. However, while the visitor was talking of the sunshine, he was also taken aback by the devastating effects of climate change on the rural communities of Masvingo District. The district, which also hosts the Masvingo City in the south-eastern province of Zimbabwe, is bearing the brunt of climate change.
The province arguably has the largest number of people affected by the el Niño-induced drought affecting most parts of Zimbabwe.
“We rarely see the sun in Hong Kong but what I am witnessing is quite bad.
“This is so sad that one would need a first-hand experience to comprehend its effects,” the colleague reflected.
The story of Masvingo District is heart-rending.
The story of Loreen Chitalo of Village 8 of Ward 30 in the district is as unbelievable as it is also saddening and shocking. The little girl is bed-ridden while nursing injuries sustained in a freak incident when a thirsty cow gored her because she was carrying a bucket of water.
“The situation is desperate. Animals and people are fighting over the scarce water at the various points in the area,” her mother Chenesai said. Forty-two-year-old Alton Hove of Mutumwa Village in Ward 18 said the district could lose all their livestock to the drought.
“What we are seeing is an indication of the tough times ahead. First, it’s the animals and if it does not rain soon, it could be the people,” he said.
“There are no pastures for the animals.”
Hove was speaking after a sort of “mercy killing” of his heifer which was too weak to stand on its own.
“Mercy killing” is the act of putting a person or animal to death painlessly or allowing them to die by withholding medical services, usually because of a painful and incurable disease.
It is also referred to as “euthanasia”, a Greek word loosely translated to “good death.”
“We are losing two or three beasts on a daily basis. Some would have tried selling the meat for income but almost everyone has suffered the same loss,” he said. “The most you can get from a beast is $30 from the teachers or health workers in the community otherwise it’s a total loss.”
The drought has been devastating for women. Mrs Eunice Gomana (57) and Mrs Nollen Chikurudanda (66) of Rukucha Village in Ward 23 abandon their domestic duties to scoop off sand from a nearby riverbed for water.
“We have endured this predicament for two years now. The rains have been scarce while the sole borehole in the village serves up to 130 families.
“We have agreed as families to rotate the days we use it. “The villagers are divided into groups and are allocated a day to use the borehole,” Mrs Gomana said.
Her counterpart Mrs Chikurudanda said scooping out water holes from the riverbed, though a temporary and unsustainable source, serves the livestock too.
“The same water is used for domestic purposes but the situation could be worse if the rains fail us again,” she said.
Mrs Chikurudanda is also worried about food shortages in the village.
“We eat boiled maize (mangai) in the morning. The children look for wild fruits on their way from school while adults have to do without anything until supper,” she said. The traditional leadership in the district are grateful for the assistance they get from non-governmental organisations. Chief Shumba said the NGOs have done a tremendous job in his area.
He however appealed for more assistance for the desperate villagers.
“The people have been receiving some form of assistance but it’s not enough. The money they give people is not enough.
“From a leadership point of view, the people need maize to survive to the next agricultural season,” he said.
Villagers receive $7 per person as an emergency humanitarian response to the drought. “The money, though necessary, has become a source of conflict among families so we believe they should convert it to food,” he said.
Chief Shumba said there was also need for more boreholes in the district.
“People are waking up very early covering long distances for water and this disturbs their dailies lives,” he said.
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee for 2016, at least one million people are facing food shortages each year. The figure is, however, expected to reach more than four million people as a result of the El Niño effects experienced in the 2015/16 agricultural season, which were exacerbated by climate change.
Oxfam in Zimbabwe country director Mr Machinda Marongwe said the el Niño phenomenon, worsened by climate change, was one of the strongest on record. The phenomenon has caused severe drought and failed harvests. Oxfam in Zimbabwe is running one of the largest programmes in the drought ravaged districts. The programme combines humanitarian, development, and advocacy work with its affiliates working primarily in the areas of WASH, food security and livelihoods, protection, as well as education.
“This year’s lean season is expected to be much longer and harder than usual, beginning months earlier (in September-October as opposed to January) and lasting until the next harvest in March-April 2017.
“Even with predictions for a weak La Niña, normal to above-average rainfall could still spell widespread devastation, as flooding remains a risk given the dry state of the ground.
“This comes at a time when people are in an extremely vulnerable state, given the inadequate support for the El Niño response. Governments and agencies are therefore urged to prepare adequately for all possible scenarios,” he said. Humanitarian and recovery efforts, he said, must run simultaneously to save lives, revive livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives.
“Livelihood recovery activities and preparation for the next agricultural season (from October 2016) must be prioritized and implemented as part of the El Niño response and recovery efforts, to avoid a further deterioration in 2017.” Government has been urged to increase adaptation investments and agricultural resilience programming at home with mitigation co-benefits.
There are also further calls for it to engage with COP22 in November to lobby for and champion the cause of adaptation finance, alongside other African governments. Governments will meet at COP22 in Morocco in November this year under the banner of Africa, Adaptation and Agriculture.
Industrialised countries, most of which are responsible for climate change, have committed to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020. This is expected to enable developing countries to adapt to the impact of climate change, as well as develop along low-carbon pathways. COP22 is also expected to address the adaptation finance gap in the fight against climate change.
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