By Jeff Kapembwa
Climate change effects buffeting Zambia need proactive actions including maximizing climate financing mechanisms to insulate against its effects and avert reversing economic gains made by the Southern African state, environmental sustainability campaigners say.
Zambia has in recent years been buffeted by El Nino and human induced climatic variations which has dwarfed its economy.
Food security has come under threat with food output reduced by 1.5 million tons of the estimated 4 million tons projected during the 2023-24 farming season.
A staggering 9 million of its 20 million citizenry, including 3 million of the children in the countryside are under threat from food insecurity in the more than 84 million of its 116 million districts of the country’s 10 provinces.
This calls for mitigation through adaptation, all needing financing to cushion the impact.
Climate campaigners met in Lusaka-Tuesday, raising eyebrows over the unabated climate change effect on Zambia spurred by prolonged droughts severely impacting agricultural productivity, a cornerstone of the economy and food security.
The effects of climate change, they argue are increasingly evident, with more frequent and intense droughts causing substantial agricultural losses, threatening livelihoods, and destabilizing the economy.
While acknowledging the government efforts to address the challenges, including adopting initiatives promoting climate-smart agricultural practices and engagements using like the Green Climate Fund, among other international climate finance mechanisms, to support climate adaptation and mitigation projects, more needs to be done.
Limited financial transparency, underutilized partnerships with the private sector and civil society, and a disconnect between policy formulation and implementation, resulting in inadequate adaptation measures are some of the gaps that need to be closed to close the gap.
Among climate actions, the government should strive to prioritise comprehensive climate adaptation strategies, particularly in agriculture, invest in sustainable agricultural technologies, in collaboration with international financiers, among other strategies and help farmers adapt to shifting climate patterns and secure food supplies.
“Actively pursuing international climate finance can further support resilience-building programs.” a statement read by Transparency International-Zambia Chapter Executive Director-Maurice Nyambe and signed by 10 Civil Society Organisations read in part.
Enhanced collaboration between the government, private sector, civil society, and international partners will foster innovative, community-centred solutions to climate challenges. The challenges all relate to environmental governance and remain critical to fight climate change, deforestation, and pollution.
The government, in collaboration with different stakeholders, should strive to strengthen policies and ensure the enforcement of environmental laws.
There is urgent need to articulate a long-term strategy for early detection of climate impacts, disaster mitigation for droughts, and a transition from hydropower to alternative renewable energy sources.
Public awareness campaigns remain vital to educate citizens on climate change impacts and promote sustainable practices, encouraging greater community involvement in resilience efforts.
However, despite limitations in budgetary allocations, Zambia remains proactive in reversing the losses induced by climate change, maximizing on the National Adaptation Program and has since launched its ‘tramp card’, the National Adaptation Plan (NAPs) to build resilience.
The NAP launched in collaboration with GWP, which provided technical and project management support with the Green Climate Fund providing resources is to ultimately address identified risks and vulnerabilities in various sectors to enhance Zambia’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Then Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Hon. Eng. Collins showed gratitude to the cooperating partners for assistance and making Zambia the 17th African country to have a NAP, a show of commitment to addressing climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Stressing the importance, Eng. Nzovu stated that the NAP identifies adaptation actions to reduce the impacts of climate change in the Agriculture, Forestry, Energy, Water, Infrastructure, Tourism, Wildlife, Mining, and health sectors.
“Climatic events affect everything from the agricultural field, roads, water supply, and education hence the development of the NAP for climate-resilience,” he said during the launch last year, while calling for strategies to finance the NAP for actualization.
Alex Simalabwi, Executive Secretary, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa -GWPSA hailed the partnership which has helped the Zambian NAP being recognized by the Green Climate Fund, the best-performing climate fighting initiative process in Africa.