Building the Resilience of Landlocked Developing Countries to the Impacts of Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Zimbabwe

Location

Background Zimbabwe is a landlocked country covering km2 It is divided into 5 agro-ecological regions based on rainfall regimes Regions 4 and 5 are characterised with low rainfall regimes. Up to 60% of the country is semi-arid marginal agricultural lands that suffer from drought occurrence and land degradation

Challenges faced by being landlocked such as Zimbabwe Limited access to marine resources necessary for nutritional provision and livelihoods options leading to high dependency on the terrestrial natural capital. Trading and investment potential is compromised and costs increased because of the lack of ports eg a Steel company is mooting an idea of pumping molten steel through a pipeline to the port for export.

Challenges cntd.. Dependence on passage through other countries for global markets, Roads are quickly damaged due to heavy trucks as they transport bulky products or excess loads on the roads. High costs of road maintenance compromise the competiveness of Zimbabwe markets Compromised viability of the agricultural sector due to high import and export costs for inputs and outputs respectively.

Challenges cntd. Transport systems are susceptible and sensitive to political and economic manipulation Vulnerability to encroachment of desert like conditions, land degradation and drought. This is particularly true of the South Eastern regions of Zimbabwe which fall in region 4 and 5.

Challenges cntd Semi- arid areas are gradually encroaching the previously humid zone turning them to semi- arid transition zones due to climate change. Zimbabwe has suffered from the effects of climate change There are more frequent and severe droughts since the 1980s than before. A new phenomena that was previously very rare is the occurrence of serious droughts

Successes in combating DLDD Investment in alternative technology to harness those natural resources that are abundant solar energy though cost is preventing wider use Irrigation and water harvesting Empowerment of communities to solve own challenges

Recommendations Flagship transboundary projects are necessary to reverse DLDD Signature programmes for landlocked countries Funding mechanisms for projects Investment in good transport infrastructure Access to services by affected communities as well as opening country to ports

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