Effect of climate change in Zambia

In the last three decades the impact of climate change has been more visible and severe. This is especially true in some developing countries, such as sub-Saharan Zambia where people's livelihoods are dependant on natural factors such as rain. These case studies will highlight the effects of climatic change on a selected community within Mongu District of Zambia, where Concern operates.

Mr. Joseph Muhau Matongo's story

Mr. Matongo, from Kalisowe village in the Mongu district of Zambia, used to be a successful small scale farmer. He was respected by community members for his good crop and livestock production. He mainly grew maize, rice, cassava, millet and kept livestock such as cattle and chickens. In the past five to ten years, however, changes in climate have caused his agricultural production levels to fall to the lowest levels since he became a farmer.

In 2006 and 2007 Mr. Matongo was only able to harvest a tiny fraction of the maize he would usually produce, most of which was rotten due to floods. As for the other crops – rice, cassava and millet – he actually harvested nothing, as they were affected by the long dry spell in November 2006. Mr. Matongo also used to own about 100 heads of cattle. This number has now been reduced to only 17 animals, some of which are owned by family members as well.

Mr. Matongo mentioned two important factors of climate change in Namushakende area. Early floods have become very common along the Zambezi plains. These floods affect maize, rice and groundnuts. Whereas on the upper land due to people’s indiscriminate cutting down of trees, drought is quite a common feature. The bare land is exposed to erosion and there are no forests to support any rainfall activities.

Notable effects of climate change in the last decade have been reduced rainfall, low crop production and high cattle mortality rates due to poor pasture and diseases. This has led to Mr.Matongo and his fellow community member’s livelihoods options further compromised and their food security highly reduced.

Mr. Matongo said “I used to live happily with my family in the past. We used to have three meals in a day – breakfast, lunch and supper. I managed to send my children to school from the money I got from selling rice and maize. Now I can’t even send my grandchildren to school, and we’ve reduced our meals to two per day. Breakfast is no longer important for us now”.

What Concern is doing?

Concern has been working with the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC). So far, six committees have been formed that are working on the response to disaster and planning for their livelihood protection. Though this is a long-term project, some significant work has already been done.

Canal clearing

An example of this has been the canal clearing activities. Clearing the canals is an important activity as it can protect the communities from flood and provide water for agricultural production. For many years, however, this was not being done, causing flood water to wash out the crops before harvesting. For the last three years, Concern is supporting the communities to clear their canals. This reduces their vulnerability to floods, protects their assets and helps increase the productivity of their land. In January 2007, the community in Namushakende managed to clear 3 km of their canal.

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