The Sunday News
Vincent Gono in Victoria Falls
The country requires more than US$10bn to implement seventeen identified climate adaptation strategies between now and 2030 as effects of climate change become more pronounced, a senior official has said.
Officially opening the Peer Learning Forum: Transitioning from planning to implementation in the national adaptation plan process here on Tuesday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife Prof Prosper Matondi who was represented by the Interim Chief Director Climate and Weather Services, Ms Veronica Jakarasi said climate change was a threat to the thriving of all facets of human growth and national development hence the need to mainstream it in national planning.
He said the meeting comes ahead of the the launch of Zimbabwe’s National Adaptation Plan which was recently finalised and is awaiting adoption by Cabinet before its launch.
Prof Matondi said the country’s National Adaptation Plan was anchored on building resilience of seven key socio-economic sectors which are water, agriculture, health, forest and biodiversity, infrastructure, human settlement and tourism.
He noted that the plan identified 17 adaptation actions to be implemented between 2024 and 2030 at an estimated cost of US$10.3billion.
“Key interventions identified in NAP include early warning and disaster risk reduction, climate smart agriculture and sustainable value chains, catchment and wetland management, water harvesting and supplementary irrigation, water use efficiency, intergrating climate change in health surveillance system, and climate proofing infrastructure to withstand climate shocks among others,” he said.
Prof Matondi further stated that Zimbabwe was also implementing resilience-building interventions with mitigation co-benefits across the country such as the mobilisation of resources by the Government and UNDP to the tune of US$26.6million focusing on climate proofing 21 irrigation schemes for smallholder farmers and enhancing catchment management in Southern Zimbabwe.
He said another US$10 million was mobilised for early warning, climate smart agriculture, weather indexed insurance and value chains development in Masvingo and Rushinga districts.
It was at the conference that Prof Matondi said the country was going to host the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Conference of Parties (CoP) 15 in July next year.
The learning forum was attended by participants from 16 countries including Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Kenya, Ethiopia, Grenada, Liberia and others.
