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Is Climate Change the Nemesis of Rural Development?: An Analysis of Patterns and Trends of Zimbabwean Droughts

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Climate Change, Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development Goals Series ((SDGS))

Abstract

Recurrence of El Nino events has always been associated with losses in agricultural production through widespread crop failure and livestock deaths, resulting in food insecurity and erosion of rural livelihoods. In the whole of southern Africa, food deficits have been recorded during such events, causing acute hunger, undernutrition, malnutrition and nutrient deficiency in most rural communities of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Using the case study of Zimbabwe, this paper examines the recurrence of crises arising from severe droughts. Geospatial and temporal analyses of temperature and rainfall are undertaken for the period between 1960 and 2015. Complementary socio-economic data for the same period was drawn from official and news reports, as well as existing literature and internet posts are analysed to determine the impacts of drought in Zimbabwean rural areas. The results show a rise in mean temperature from 1981, and a corresponding exacerbation of drought severity, consequently reflecting the vulnerability of the rural economy to the changing climate. The paper concludes that there is a need for development agencies to build new resilience strategies for rural communities, even in areas that were previously considered to be water surplus regions. However, widespread material poverty, as well as lack of capital investment, hinders efforts to implement such strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography Department and Afromontane Research Unit, University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Geoffrey Mukwada & Desmond Manatsa

  2. International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy

    Desmond Manatsa

  3. Bindura University of Science, Bindura, Zimbabwe

    Desmond Manatsa

Authors
  1. Geoffrey Mukwada
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  2. Desmond Manatsa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffrey Mukwada .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Suraj Mal

  2. Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    R.B. Singh

  3. Department of Geography, University of Zurich—Irchel, Zürich, Switzerland

    Christian Huggel

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Mukwada, G., Manatsa, D. (2018). Is Climate Change the Nemesis of Rural Development?: An Analysis of Patterns and Trends of Zimbabwean Droughts. In: Mal, S., Singh, R., Huggel, C. (eds) Climate Change, Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56469-2_12

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