Climate Change Policy in Zimbabwe POLICIES AND PROGRAMS National Climate Policy – This paper aims to positively influence climate change management in Zimbabwe. One of its major purposes is to contribute to the reduction of global emissions through the domestication of global policies and increasing climate change mitigation in all socio-economic development sectors of the country (Ministry of Envrionment, Water and Climate, 2016). In addition, it also aims to reduce the country’s vulnerability of being heavily affected by negative impacts of climate change. Climate Smart Agriculture: Manual for Zimbabwe – This manual provides a strategy that aims to increase food security despite the climate change and the increased demand for food in the country. It is introducing Climate Smart Agriculture practices into Zimbabwe’s current tertiary education system, as well as into agricultural advisory programmes. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Climate Smart Agriculture practices aim to increase sustainable productivity through the reduction or removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and increasing the recovery of bio-networks that have been affected by climate change.
(Climate Technology Centre and Network, 2017). There are three pillars to this notion that are implemented at different levels throughout the food production cycle. These pillars are: ? Efficiency ? Adaptation ? Mitigation Climate Smart Agriculture is still a very new concept in Zimbabwe, so there is a lot more room for development through research facilitated by tertiary institutes, engaging with global and local investors and by merging practises that have been successfully implemented in other parts of the world. Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Response Strategy Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Response Strategy focuses on creating an economy that supports sustainable development. It factors in challenges cultivated by climate change on the country’s various sectors and acknowledges the need to increase public awareness of these challenges.
The strategy recognises that for its successful implementation, there must be stakeholder engagement at different levels from the communities going up to national level. Overall, the National Climate Change Response Strategy provides an essential supporting structure for the application of aspects in: ? Public education and awareness ? Adaptation ? Mitigation ? Funding ? Technology GOALS AND TARGETS Through the endorsement of global and regional agreements, the Government of Zimbabwe as set the following targets: ? By 2020, Zimbabwe will have reduced its energy related emissions by 33% per capita ? By 2020, the government will have mobilized USD1 billion to support climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes in developing countries. ? By 2030, th Republic of Zimbabwe would have contributed in achieving the global target of limiting global average temperatures that are below 2oC above the preindustrial levels The Republic of Zimbabwe has set the following targets ? Capacity building focusing on women and marginalized communities for the advancement of effective climate change planning and management. ? Reduce carbon emissions using renewable energy, more efficient transport systems and promoting sustainable usage of natural resources.
? Ensure food security through the implementation of sustainable land use systems. ? Develop Naturally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) ? Protect the health of all residents . INFLUENCES ON POLICY There have been various factors that have influenced policy through the years, and these factors include but are not limited to: ? Increase in water demand for agricultural and industrial purposes, while there has been a reduction in water yields by approximately 30-40% per dam ? Dependency on Kariba Hydropower Station for electricity generation. ? Zimbabwe’s agricultural practices that are depended on natural ecological and water cycles. ? Decrease on food security exuberated by climate change ? Impact on health mainly caused by lack of nutrition and malaria ? Shrinking of the tourism sector due to reduction in biodiversity INFLUENTIAL DOMESTIC ORGANISATIONS Area of Focus Influential organisations Government departments Ministry of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Ministry of Local Government Rural and Urban Development, Environmental Management Agency, Meteorological Services Department, Ministry of Environment Water and Climate, Climate Change Unit, Zimbabwe Forestry Commission, Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority Academic/ Research institutions Chinhoyi University of Technology, Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), International Crops Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Lupane State University Agricultural Sciences, Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Open University, Centre for ODL Research and Scholarship: Climate-compatible waste management research Climate change adaptation programmes Environment Africa, Oxfam GB (Zimbabwe), Practical Action (Zimbabwe), ZERO Regional Environmental Organisation (ZERO), Conservation Birdlife Zimbabwe, Campfire Association, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zimbabwe Climate change communications and information Africa Centre for Climate Change Knowledge Foundation Trust (ACCCKF), Development Reality Institute Climate Change Virtual School Children’s Education Schools and Colleges Permaculture (SCOPE) Programme, Education Services Centre Building, UNICEF (Zimbabwe): Climate change department Climate change activism Action 24 African Youth Conference on Climate Change Climate change advocacy Environment Africa, Oxfam GB (Zimbabwe), Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association, ZERO Regional Environmental Organisation (ZERO) BARRIERS TO PROGRESS In Zimbabwe’s context, the key barriers to climate change mitigation are as follows: ? Limited access to credit, irrigation, community protection technologies, climate data and drought power ? Dependency on monocrops and maize production ? Lack of institutional capacity to effectively implement the policies and meet the targets ? Limited access to communication infrastructure ? Policy failure ? Gender inequality in decision making GLOBAL PARTICIPATION Zimbabwe recognizes that for it to increase its capacity to compact climate change, it needs to collaborate with local and global instructions.
The country has been participating globally through the following initiatives. ? Zimbabwe is a signatory of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has endorsed the Paris Agreement. ? Supports climate fund projects such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries), CDM (Clean Development Mechanism), NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) and so many more References Brazier, A., 2015. Climate Change in Zimbabwe: Facts for Planners and Decision Makers, Harare: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Chigwada, J., 2005.
Case Study 6: Zimbabwe Climate Proofing Infrastructure and Diversifying Livelihoods in Zimbabwe. IDS Bulletin, 36(4), pp. 103-116. Climate Technology Centre and Network, 2017. Climate-Smart Agriculture: Manual for Zimbabwe, Denmark: s.n.
Ministry of Envrionement, Water and Climate: Climate Change Management Department, 2015. Climate Change. Online Available at: http://www.climatechange.org.zw/sites/default/files/Article%203_SDG%2013.pdf Accessed 16 August 2018. Ministry of Envrionment, Water and Climate, 2016. Zimbabwe Climate Policy, Harare: Government of Zimbabwe. Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate, n.d.
Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Response Strategy, Harare: Government of Zimbabwe. United Nations Development Programme, 2017. 2017 Zimbabwe Human Development Report – Climate Change ; Human Development: Towards Building a Climate Resilient Nation, Harare: United Nations Development Programme.
