The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
ANOTHER climate catastrophe with severe impact on rural women and young girls has plagued Manicaland.
The province has been affected by a prolonged dry spell this season, thereby bringing back sad memories of 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012.
Climate change’s severe impact is being felt mostly by poor farming women whose livelihoods are climate sensitive.
Their livelihoods are hinged on steady weather, water and soil, and are disrupted when these ingredients become unpredictable.
A survey conducted by The Manica Post in Buhera, Mutare districts and southern parts of Makoni show that close to 90 percent of the crops planted in those areas might be a write-off.
These areas fall under natural region five, and even traditional grains like round nuts, groundnuts, rapoko, finger millet and sorghum – usually revered for their resistance – have succumbed to the prolonged dry spell.
This has left most rural women vulnerable and without short, medium or long-term strategies to meet family basic needs.
A combination of inconsistent and erratic rains and extremely high day temperatures have been the most notable manifestations of climate change and this has dealt subsistence agriculture a fatal blow.
As a result, household food security is under serious threat.
Government, however, has assured the nation that no one will die of hunger as prospects for this year’s agricultural season diminish due to the poor rains.
Mrs Rhodah Makichi of Kwarire Village, Buhera, said the 2021/22 season has left rural women exposed to food insecurity.
Access to portable water is also expected to become a serious problem as the year progresses as most water bodies would have depleted.
Mrs Makichi said the dry spell has left most plants dead, adding that many women are not sure where their families’ next meal will come from.
“This time of the season we should be eating green mealies, pumpkins, groundnuts, squashes and watermelons. We had anticipated a good season, but the gods turned their backs on us.
“The entire crop wilted in the scorching sun before reaching maturity,” said Mrs Makichi.
She said streams and rivers that should be flowing are already drying up, and may be unable to sustain community gardens for the next two months, further compromising household nutritional security.
Severe hunger is already spreading like a cancer.
Already some families are surviving on a meal per day and nearly every household in the affected areas need food aid.
Mrs Matinetsa Mukucha, a substance farmer in Buhera, also bemoaned the prevalent harsh climatic conditions.
“As if the dry, hot season is not enough, our cattle that should cushion us during these difficult periods are dying of January disease (theiliorisis).
“We have no food or livestock to depend on. We are between a rock and hard surface. We do not know where our immediate salvation will come from,” she decried.
Mrs Getrude Muchemwa of Mapembe in Odzi said the impact of climate change is being felt more by rural women.
“There is nothing in the fields. Everything we planted wilted. It is a disaster, and we do not how our children will survive. The rains stopped immediately after planting, and it is tragic to say the least.
“Even traditional grains could not withstand the scorching heat.
“They were all mowed down and cannot help us meet the immediate needs to feed our families.
“All the plants wilted.
“As a mother, I feel the pain most because the onus to feed the children is on me.
“I have to make sure there is something to eat in the house and where to get it is the challenge,” she said.
Some men from these areas have started relocating to urban and mining areas in search of work, while women remain in the villages to take care of the children and the elderly.
That the bulk of these women are ill-equipped and lack capacity to tackle the uncertainty brought by the dry spell could mean doom for adolescent girls in these apostolic sect dominated areas.
Normally, economic pressures on families fuel incidences of child marriages.
Ms Ndakaitei Kabango of Marange said for many families who find themselves starving, marrying off their young girls is an easy coping mechanism.
“Young girls need all the protection available during drought periods because they are often married off to older men in exchange for grain or livestock so that their families can survive.
“This is a sad reality that we should all prevent. Many families resort to backward religious and cultural practices to put food on the table,” she said.
Ms Kabango said women in the affected areas need to be capacitated with entrepreneurial skills.
Empowering rural women is an essential first step to eradicating poverty as it enables them to take charge of their own life.
Rural development expert, Professor Joseph Kamuzhanje said over the years, the agricultural sector has been affected by the adverse effects of climate change, poor agronomic practices, unavailability of inputs and an unattractive pricing system.
“Our agricultural sector has been dominated by crop production with little emphasis on small livestock.
“There should be emphasis on the training of farmers on livestock production, animal housing, disease detection and nutrition, among other things,” said Prof Kamuzhanje.
Small livestock include chickens, rabbits and anything else that can be kept in the vicinity of the house and can be fed using residue from crop production.
Prof Kamuzhanje said rural women should venture into production of small livestock as these require minimal investment.
Income from the livestock can allow vulnerable women to put food on the table, improve nutrition, send their children to school and buy medicine for their families.
