Girls in rural areas bear brunt of climate change

SUKOLUHLE NDLOVU RECENTLY IN MBERENGWA

It is mid-morning on Friday, at Mataga Growth Point in Mberengwa district, Midlands Province.

Being the month of September, it’s windy and dust particles are settling everywhere and on everyone.

I stand near an incomplete building shielding myself from the dusty wind.

A few metres from where l am standing, a 15-year-old Tarisai Sibanda (not her real name) is toiling round the area searching for water.

Walking bare footed, clutching at a 25-litre bucket on one hand, while holding her 5-year-old young sister with another hand, she visibly looks tired.

While girls of her age are at school, she has been searching for the precious liquid for the past four hours. She cannot go to school without fetching water for domestic use as her frail grandmother can no longer do any chores.   

This is the fifth borehole she has been to this morning in frantic search of water.

Due to drought, the water levels have drastically reduced therefore there is no water coming out in most boreholes.

Mberengwa, falls under Region 4 and is normally characterised by low rainfall which eventually leads to food insecurity and water shortages.

Besides perennial water woes bedevilling the district, food insecurity is another problem that the villagers are faced with.

This also means that children as young as Sibanda need to do menial jobs to get something to eat.

Just like Sibanda, many children, especially girls are being negatively affected by climate change which has resulted in continuous drought and experts say the effects of climate change are likely to continue if nothing is done to contain it.

Climate change is caused by the accumulation of chlorofluorocarbon gasses in the atmosphere which destroy the ozone layer, resulting in the shift of temperatures and weather patterns.

This may result in heat waves caused by high temperatures, droughts, cyclones, floods amongst other effects.

The effects of climate change are mostly felt in poor communities and sometimes children are forced to walk long distances before going to school to fetch water and in some instances, they end up skipping school just like Sibanda today.

Due to incapacity by households in Mberengwa to fend for their families, some end up dropping out of school due to hunger and failure to pay fees, while some kids develop health complications like malnutrition.

A quick chat with the visibly weary Sibanda paints a vivid picture of her and many other girls from poor communities who have been victims of climate change.

She teary narrates how she hates skipping school as she will lag behind in her studies.

“I am currently doing my Form 2, and l miss school about twice a week because l would have walked a long distance searching for water and when I come back, l will be very tired to proceed to school,” Sibanda said.

She added: “Most boreholes in the area have since dried up and that is a huge challenge because it means we have to get up as early as possible so that we return early and proceed to school.

“Today l woke up around 5 am, and 4 hours later l haven’t found water. As you can see, it’s already late for me to go to school.  

“The issue of water shortages is also making it hard for us to plant crops in our vegetable gardens so we are facing hunger. When there is enough water in dams, we utilize our gardens to get food and sell the surplus to eke out a living. Sometimes l do menial jobs and get paid in groceries like mealie meals, cooking oil and sugar so that we can have something to eat.”

Climate change continues to be one of the underlying factors leading to food insecurity and poverty in Zimbabwe.

According to the 2022 Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee report, about 30% of Zimbabweans are food insecure and they are in urgent need of food aid.

The report also states that Midlands Province recorded a stunted growth rate of 24.5% due to malnutrition.

Recently, Member of Parliament for Mberengwa East constituency, Marko Raidza, appealed to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to quickly distribute food aid to reduce hunger in the area saying many households are facing starvation due to poor harvests they recorded this year.

“This year most people in Mberengwa did not record good harvests. Therefore, we are appealing to developmental partners and the government to quickly distribute food to the affected families as they are facing serious hunger. People from my constituency are asking for food daily and an urgent intervention is needed,” he said.

Although climate change is the major cause of drought and poverty, other factors like the deteriorating macro socio-economic situation can never be ruled out.

The Covid-19 pandemic also worsened the already volatile situation.

Climate change is a subject that must be prioritized now more than ever.

If no action is taken, we risk seeing more effects unfolding.

According environmentalist Leonardo Di Caprio, “Climate change is real. It is happening right now; it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating”.