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UNESCO introduces water and climate focused project to stakeholders in Zimbabwe
UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) successfully introduced the four-year (2023-27 Strengthening Local Communities’ Adaptive Capacity and Resilience to Climate Change through Sustainable Groundwater Utilisation in Zimbabwe project to the Government of Zimbabwe and its key stakeholders at an event held in Kadoma, about 140km from the capital, Harare. The US$5 million Adaptation Fund supported project seeks to improve access to clean and safe water and food security in two poverty-stricken districts of Binga (wards 13 and 19) and Buhera (wards 20 and 23).
UNESCO, the main implementing partner, is working closely with the government through the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement ministry, the project’s executing entity to build the capacities of community members in dry parts of the country to respond and cope well under climate induced conditions.
Opening the event, Engineer Gilbert Mawere, Director for Water Development and Utilisation in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development commended the model to be taken by the project in providing mechanised water systems.
Sustainable use of water is at the core of this project. Each borehole will be solarised, a fisheries component will be introduced and piped water schemes will be introduced drawing water to doorsteps of villager’s homes. The establishment of a centre of excellence of groundwater at the University of Zimbabwe will be key in backing up the project with research services.
The impacts of climate change are worsening for several communities in Zimbabwe, with Binga and Buhera not spared. Water sources are drying faster than before, about four months away from the next rain season, thereby affecting key agricultural activities, which are the main sources of food for most community members.
In a speech read on behalf of the UNESCO ROSA Director and Representative by Martiale Zebaze Kana, the Head of Natural Sciences, the dry conditions experienced by the target districts are affecting all forms of livelihoods in the two districts.
Binga and Buhera communities grapple with erratic rainfall and suboptimal water management practices which recurringly result in crop and animal production system failures exacerbating water and food insecurity, with a disproportionate impact on women and girls.
It is against this background that the project is collaborating with various Government of Zimbabwe ministries and departments to undertake actions at both national and local levels, including groundwater resource characterization and quantification, knowledge generation, capacity development, and the piloting and demonstration of climate change adaptation measures centered on sustainable groundwater utilization.
The project's emphasis on sustainable groundwater utilization aligns with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, which aims to enhance water resource management and promote sustainable development through research, capacity-building, and knowledge sharing in the context of climate change adaptation and resilience-building.
According to the United Nations World Water Development Report released in 2023, about 2 billion people around the world do not have access to clean and safe drinking water. Climate change is affecting weather patterns globally thereby causing droughts and floods in some places.
The Adaptation Fund, a finance mechanism for projects and programmes that help vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt to climate change. Initiatives are based on country needs, views and priorities.
