What is soil erosion?
Soil erosion is one form of soil degradation. Soil erosion is a naturally occurring process on all land.
Soil is the earth’s fragile skin that anchors all life on Earth. The agents of soil erosion are water and wind, each contributing a significant amount of soil loss each year.
Soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed, or it may occur at an alarming rate causing serious loss of topsoil and gully formation.
Global reports indicate that half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years.
Gully erosion is a widespread problem in Zimbabwe mostly driven by the raindrops and running water’s power to erode (erosivity) and the soil’s inherent susceptibility to be eroded (erodibilty).
The soil’s erodibility is influenced by the soil texture, structure and chemical properties.
A good example of the highly erodible soils are the sodic and shallow Kalahari sands.
Sodic soils occupy 15 percent of the country which is equivalent to 58,000Km2.
The catchments mainly affected include Save, Sanyati and Umzingwane. Recent studies by the University of Zimbabwe indicate that an additional 2 million hectares of land area is susceptible to gully erosion.
Gully erosion has rendered approximately Zimbabwe’s 9507hectares of land unusable despite many on-going land management programmes and projects by the Agency, Civil Society Organisations and communities to rehabilitate these gullies.
Sustainable land use can help to reduce the impacts of agriculture and livestock, preventing soil degradation and erosion and the loss of valuable land to desertification.
Does erosion affect our livelihoods?
The effects of soil erosion go beyond the loss of fertile land. It has led to increased pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing declines in fish and other species as well as hydrological droughts.
Hydrological drought refers to deficiencies in surface and subsurface water supplies.
In addition, degraded lands are also often less able to hold and retain water, which can increase flash flooding.
What is the link between siltation and streambank cultivation?
To reduce siltation and clogging of water bodies, the best practice is maintain the riverine vegetation undisturbed.
Stream bank cultivation in most parts of the country has been the major driver of siltation affecting streams, rivers and dams.
This has been noted both in the rural and urban set up of the country driven by the search for wetness or water provision as well as fertile soils.
What does the laws say regarding streams and water bodies?
Section 113 of the Environmental Management Act (Cap 20: 27) as read with section 20 of Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 (Environmental Management (Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Protection) Regulations), prohibits cultivation and introduction of exotic plants and animal species into wetlands and land within 30m of a public stream, river or water body.
The prohibited activities require a special licence from EMA for one work in the riverine zones.
What interventions has EMA undertaken to curb Stream Bank Cultivation in Zimbabwe?
EMA conducted an inventory survey of all the affected rivers by stream bank cultivation was done in all the provinces. The inventory was carried out to ascertain which rivers in particular are affected, to what extent and the exact location.
Community meetings with communal farmers are being done throughout the country, with particular attention on the areas with affected rivers identified in the initial inventory exercise.
These community meetings are done together with traditional leaders to raise awareness on sustainable agricultural practices such as the growing of crops at least 30m away from the bank of a river, handling of agro-chemicals to prevent water pollution and fire management.
These community meetings will then culminate in the development of Local Action Plans for resource mobilisation.
EMA is contributing to the Action Plans through the formation of consolidated gardens.
The consolidated gardens are a sustainable livelihood option, whereby communities come together forming gardens with different crop varieties instead of practising stream bank cultivation.
The Agency gives Rural District Councils grants to implement environmental programmes.
Some of the money for grants is used to implement projects.
Environmental Sub-Committees were formed at ward level comprising of councillors and village heads.
One of their functions is awareness and training at local level focusing on environmental issues including stream bank cultivation.
Currently the climate change adaptation plan is being developed.
The plan is meant to identify sustainable livelihood options through focus group studies.
This will go a long way in alleviating the cultivation of crops within the bank of a river.
Awareness through print and electronic media.
There are radio and television programmes on ZBC and community radios such as Diamond FM in Manicaland and YAFM in Zvishavane.
Print media articles on stream bank cultivation and siltation are published in all media houses including community newspapers countrywide.
There is also continued general awareness on sustainable agricultural practices through gatherings during commemoration of environmental days at district level, attending RDCs full council meetings, meetings called by traditional leaders in their localities.