Climate
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Southern Amazon Region on the Verge of Deforestation Crisis
By Joyce Mukucha The world’s biodiversity is under threat with the southern Amazon region experiencing excessive deforestation which has converted swaths of land from rainforest to farmland, reports, and studies revealed. According to Eduardo Maeda and colleagues from the University of Helsinki, areas of commodity farming are experiencing a much higher increase in temperature, in…
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AfDB assists West African countries to deliver carbon emission reductions and meet their Paris Agreement commitments
The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has extended financial support to a project that will strengthen the efforts of West African countries to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets under the Paris climate accord. The Bank will underwrite the preparation of concept notes exploring the use of internationally transferable mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) in selected West…
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2021 A Crucial Year for Climate Change: UN Chief
The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said 2021 is a crucial year for climate change, UN News revealed. He made these remarks on Monday when he was speaking to a Member States meeting as part of the preparations towards the latest annual UN climate conference, known as COP26, which will be held in Glasgow,…
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Angola’s ANPG Clarifies Environmental Impact of Upcoming Onshore Licensing Round
Due to some inaccurate interpretations disseminated in national and international media and also on social media about the work to be carried out in the Angolan interior basins, particularly in the Etosha/Okavango Basin, the Angolan Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels, clarifies the following: 1. In compliance with the guidelines established by the Angolan Government…
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AfDB Puts Climate Adaptation ’on Steroids’ by Investing in Young People
By Megan Rowling (Thomson Reuters Foundation) The African Development Bank plans to deploy billions of dollars to help young people build a new digitally-driven model of agriculture that can feed the continent’s people and boost prosperity even as the planet heats up, its president said. At a global summit this week, the bank and the…
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Canon creates partnerships to support Wildlife Conservation
Africa with is elephants or rhinos and a host of other wildlife, fauna, and flora. This landscape is Africa’s brand; it is what makes it Africa. If that is not enough of a reason to conserve our wildlife, basic economics should serve as a further impetus. After all, Africa’s wildlife is one of the primary…
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Stop ongoing degradation of wetlands: ZLHR
By Kumbirai Mafunda On World Wetlands Day, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) calls upon policymakers, local and central government to take concerted and coordinated efforts to develop and implement action plans to stop the ongoing degradation of wetlands and protect, preserve and restore them. World Wetlands Day, which is commemorated every year on 2…
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MSD Predicts More Heavy Downpours
By Joyce Mukucha As the month of February begins, heavy downpours are anticipated starting off in the south-west and spreading north-eastward to cover much of the country, the Meteorological Service Department has revealed. The department advised the public to be vigilant of their immediate environment as flash-flooding is probable in low lying areas and wetlands.…
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Heavy rains destroy homes in Bulilima District
By Habakkuk Trust Villagers in Huwana, Bulilima Ward 8 have lost their property and shelter after a lengthy spell of heavy rains that have hit Bulilima District, South West of Zimbabwe. The heavy downpours that are in some cases accompanied by strong winds are ripple effects of tropical storms that have hit inland Mozambique, Manicaland, and…
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AfDB’s Adaptation Benefits Mechanism helps to climate-proof Ivorian smallholder farms’ cocoa yields
A new project by the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) and the International Agroforestry Agency [ICRAF (www.WorldAgroForestry.org)] would bring relief to two Ivorian smallholder cocoa farmers’ communities in Soubre and Vavoua currently grappling with declining yields caused by climate change and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without help, some 800,000 Ivorian smallholder farmers, who produce the largest…
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World Wetlands Day Commemorations set to go virtual
By Joyce Mukucha In an effort aimed at combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus and at the same time striving to raise global awareness about the high importance of wetlands for people and the planet, the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry is set to commemorate the World Wetlands Day (WWD) online.…
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EMA Working Towards Reducing Mercury Usage in Zimbabwe
By Joyce Mukucha Following Zimbabwe’s ratification of the Minamata Convention banning the use of mercury in mining and regulatory measures for its release from industrial equipment, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) said it will continue to fully monitor the use of the substance as a way to reduce or even phase out its usage and…
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We Are Facing a Climate Emergency, Warns UN Chief
By Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary Gerneral We begin this year with a heightened awareness of the importance of resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that we cannot afford to ignore known risks. Climate disruption is a risk we are well aware of. The science has never been clearer. We are facing a climate emergency.…
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As Climate Threats Rise, Now’s the Time to Adapt
With global economic activity stymied by COVID-19 and with air travel falling dramatically, you might think this would limit global warming. You’d be wrong. In December a little-known report warned that we’re on track for a 3 degree rise in temperatures, even if existing commitments are met, smashing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C…
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Climate Action 2021 Summit Launches ‘Decade of Action’
By Joyce Mukucha As the world is trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis is still hindering progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus the 2021 Climate Action Summit (CAS) has launched a ‘Decade of Action’ aimed at delivering action and inspiring change to help societies build better as well as assist…
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Preparedness Measures Intensified as Tropical Storm Eloise Gains Strength
By Joyce Mukucha Zimbabwe has intensified its preparedness amid reports Tropical Storm Eloise is now in the Mozambique Channel, where it is expected to gain strength and become a Tropical Cyclone today (22 January) before making its second landfall, likely on 23 January, forecasts have revealed. For Zimbabwe, in an update, the Meteorological Service Department…
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Hydrogen Transition Summit Set for February 2021: Climate Action
Considering that an increasing number of nations are including hydrogen as a key aspect of their transition strategies, with some already having dedicated hydrogen plans, Climate Action, a UN foundation is geared to host a professional virtual Hydrogen Transition Summit designed for the audience to network, connect and explore new opportunities within hydrogen, industry, transport,…
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Tropical Cyclone Eloise anticipated next week
By Joyce Mukucha The Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has warned that a new potential Tropical Cyclone Eloise is forming over the Indian Ocean and is expected to make landfalls in Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as early as next week. This was also revealed by the International Organization for Migration. In a statement issued on the…
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African Cities Must Prepare for Climate Migration
African climate-linked migration tends to be dominated by European narratives. In reality, most of these migrants move within their own countries and regions. As climate change impacts intensify, migration will increase. African cities, countries and regions need to be more aware of the phenomenon and incorporate it into all levels of planning. Despite contributing only…
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MSD Predicts More Rain Related-Disasters
By Joyce Mukucha The Meteorological Service Department (MSD) has warned that tropical cyclones, storms and serious floods remain a real danger in the second half of the 2020/21 rainy season. In a statement issued on the 13th of January 2021, MSD said rain-related disasters remain a possibility during the second half of the rainy season…
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Policy and strategic framework to ease the impacts of Post-COVID-19 through climate action-based enterprises
By Ecosystem Based Adaptation For Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA) For a year now, the COVID-19 pandemic has been at the centre of news across the globe and Africa. In Africa where estimates put the effects of the pandemic to affect the economy of Africa to around a fall of 1.4% of its GDP,with smaller economies…
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What if?… a few reflections about where we are with taking agroecology forward as we enter 2021
By John Wilson First, our mindset: I keep finding myself coming back to the question of mindset. Without a change in mindset people don’t get agroecology. But more than that, even those who get it, myself included, are still stuck to some extent in what I’d call a ‘machine mindset’. That was the mindset most…
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Saved in the nick of time from Cyclone Chalane
As it did other locations, Cyclone Idai left a trail of destruction as it passed through Chikwaka Village in Chimanimani District. Now, less than two years later, Cyclone Chalane threatened to cause more damage to the some of the homes and property that were yet to be repaired. A group of volunteers from Chikwaka village,…
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Regenerating our soils with indigenous microbes
By John Wilson It is becoming increasingly apparent that the main drivers of life on Mother Earth are microbial. Perhaps the difficulty in recognizing this is because without a microscope we can’t see this incredibly complex world. Unfortunately, probably because we can’t see it, we have often brought devastation to this microbial world. Most of…
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Adopt measures to protect PWDs in Cyclone Chalane-hit areas
By Ishmael Zhou In the areas affected by Cyclone Chalane, there is a need to have data on people with disabilities (PWDs) – the type of disability, age, sex, and possibly specific challenges relating to each type of disability. There are wholesale solutions to disability but sometimes we have to have tailor-made solutions. Parents with…
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Bill Gates’s Foundation Is Leading a Green Counterrevolution in Africa
By Jan Urhahn Translation by Loren Balhorn The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation promised Africa a “Green Revolution” to fight hunger and poverty. It hasn’t worked — but it has upped corporate agriculture’s profits. Local farmers are being left empty-handed, and hunger is rising. Over the last five years, the number of people around the world…
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The Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative on the cards
The Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), in conjunction with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has announced the launching of the Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Change in Africa (IBFCCA) programme, a SIDA-funded initiative, the Centurion has revealed. This…
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Zero budget, bumper crop – all thanks to natural farming
By K Rathna (Express News Service) MYSURU: 50-year-old farmer in a village in Karnataka has shown, like Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka before him, that from “nothingness” can emerge beautiful forests and farms. Krishnappa Dasappa Gowda’s farm in Bannur village, T Narasipur taluk, looks less like a typical agricultural field, and more like a forest in all…
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Small-Scale Farmers Bemoan Adverse Climate Change Effects
By Joyce Mukucha Climate change is one of the 21st century human catastrophes with its impacts being felt globally and Zimbabwe has not been spared. These impacts range from increased rainfall variability, prolonged dry spells, heat waves, as well as increased occurrence of extreme weather events such as drought and flooding. The small-scale farmers in…
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Young Feminists Re-Imagining Climate Conversation
By Joyce Mukucha With climate and environmental impacts persisting to drastically re-shape the world, as feminists, the Young Feminist Fund (FRIDA) has come to realise that they cannot and must not separate these concerns from their struggles. Young feminist activists are organizing against some of the most rapidly changing contexts the world has ever seen.…
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UK Set to Host Africa Investment Conference in 2021
By Joyce Mukucha The United Kingdom (UK) is preparing to host the Africa Investment Conference which will be held virtually in the new year, an event which comes one year on from the UK-Africa Investment Summit. The Conference’s key focus will be on Greener and more sustainable investment. The UK Department for International Trade has…
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Standard Bank Group Publishes Fossil Fuels Financing Policy
By Staff Reporter Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe’s parent company, Standard Bank Group, in pursuit of improving its management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, and contributing to the sustainable development of Africa, has published its Fossil Fuels Financing Policy. This follows the adoption in 2019 of policies on lending to Coal-fired power projects and Coal-mining…
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Action Aid Zimbabwe at the Forefront of Building Resilience to Shocks and Disasters
By Joice Mukucha (Staff reporter) Action Aid Zimbabwe is at the forefront of building the country’s resilience to climate change-induced shocks and disasters that affect food and nutrition security. The institution has partnered the Government in launching the Zimbabwe Food Security Policy Brief after noticing the impacts of climate change-induced shocks such as Cyclone Idai…
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Zimbabweans facing high levels of food insecurity: IPC
The Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) has reported that an increase in food insecurity in Zimbabwe is being driven by poor harvests, reduced income and high food prices but is partially mitigated by increased humanitarian food assistance. Below, Spiked Online Media reproduces snippets from the report: Current Situation Overview (Oct-Dec 2020) Currently, 2.61 million people…
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Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies host vision 2050 webinar series
Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies this week host a 5-part virtual webinar series under the theme Catalysing Vision 2050. From 1 to 3 December 2020, the organisations bring together a cosmopolitan array of speakers for conversations on Education, Health, Rural Transformation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Disaster Relief and Preparedness and Entrepreneurship and Accessing Finance. Higherlife Foundation…
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Windmill a key player in the production of poultry feed
Windmill Private Limited Company’s stock-feeds are tried and tested for the local environment before they are put on the market and that is the reason why they are becoming the first choice for Zimbabwean farmers. Below, Spiked Online Media talks about Windmill products on offer: BROILER FEEDS BROILER STARTER MASH/CRUMBS (21% CRUDE PROTEIN) Feed broiler…
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Harmonized regulation of fertilizers to boost local food production across Southern Africa
Mathew M. Abang (PhD, MBA) When compared with other regions of the world, Southern Africa’s GDP growth between 2011 and 2017 was higher than that of advanced economies. However, the Southern Africa region (the Member States of the Southern African Development Community – SADC) failed to maintain the growth momentum and had the lowest growth…
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UNICEF appoints young Zimbabwean as Youth Climate Advocate
UNICEF Zimbabwe has appointed Nkosilathi Nyathi (17) as a UNICEF Youth Climate Advocate to advance the climate and environment agenda in Zimbabwe and mobilize other young people to join the fight against climate change. The appointment comes as UNICEF commemorates World Children’s Day on November 20, under the theme “Reimagining a greener more sustainable future,…
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Zimbabwe on right track towards tackling climate change
By Anyway Yotamu. Zimbabwe is on the right track to combating climate change by implementing agreements outlined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Addressing delegates at the two-day Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) communication strategy validation workshop in Harare, Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry, …
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There is still hope for African countries to restore their original food systems
By Charles Dhewa In the face of intensifying climate change, voices calling for Africans to go back to their original food systems are getting louder. Such voices are guided by changes in the natural phenomena that once existed in several African communities and countries. Many voices are lamenting the fact that policymakers have embraced foreign…
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ARDA dairy farmers fail to provide stock feed
By Shamain Nyamutswa The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) dairy farmers are facing challenges in providing food for their cattle due to economic instability and inflation. This has left them unable to buy stock feeds leading to the high death rate of their livestock recently. Milk and milk products are being sold in local…
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Wetland loss and degradation cost the country millions of dollars: Munodawafa
Mr. Munesushe Munodawafa, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality industry has said that wetland loss and degradation cost the country millions of dollars. He was speaking at the Wetlands and Policy Guidelines Sensitisation Workshop held at the Cresta Churchill Hotel in Bulawayo yesterday. “It is important to note that…
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Green Climate Fund to drive climate change resilience building
The Green Climate Fund is positioned to achieve sustainable transformation through resilience building across the agricultural and environmental management value chain. The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement, Climate Change Department, and UNDP Zimbabwe yesterday launched the Green Climate Fund (GCF) ‘Building Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Agricultural Livelihoods in Southern Zimbabwe project. …
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Greenpeace Report: Intensifying weather events threaten the most vulnerable in Africa
A Greenpeace scientific report released today reveals that extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods and intense rain are increasing in intensity, frequency and severity across many parts of Africa, gravely threatening human health, food security, peace, and biodiversity. Weather across sub-Saharan Africa has become more extreme and unpredictable in the twenty-first century, a trend that…