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Zimbabwe’s climate migration is a sign of what’s to come
Julius Mutero has harvested virtually nothing in the past six years. For his entire adult life, he has farmed a three-hectare plot in Mabiya, a farming community in eastern Zimbabwe.
But over a decade ago, his area started getting less rain and the rivers dried up. What was already a hot climate, with temperatures that could reach 30 °C (86 °F), began recording summer highs up to 37 °C (99 °F) on a regular basis.
Now the rainy season begins in late December instead of early November, and it ends sooner too.
Years of severe droughts have wiped out all Mutero’s crops. He has had no choice but to abandon his home and relocate to the country’s Eastern Highlands, which get more rain and heavier mists than the rest of the country.
Mutero is just one of the 86 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who the World Bank estimates will migrate domestically by 2050 because of climate change—
the largest number predicted in any of six major regions the organization studied for a new report.
In Zimbabwe, farmers who have tried to stay put and adapt by harvesting rainwater or changing what they grow have found their efforts woefully inadequate in the face of new weather extremes.
Droughts have already forced tens of thousands from the country’s lowlands to the Eastern Highlands.
But their desperate moves are creating new compe ion for water in the region, and tensions may soon boil over.
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Capitalism doesn't ing care
. I'm looking forward to my rural roads getting chip sealed again. It really pisses off the bag cyclists that come out here to ride.
