By Johnson Siamachira
Harare, (New Ziana) – Lake Kariba, one of Africa’s most picturesque holiday destinations, embodies the stark contrast between development and displacement in Southern Africa. Nearly 160 000 people, uprooted by the construction of the Kariba Dam in the 1950s, live in the shadows of the very power lines that carry electricity to cities like Lusaka, the Copperbelt in Zambia, as well as Harare and Bulawayo and other areas in Zimbabwe.
Almost 80 years after the dam’s construction, these communities continue to rely on firewood and paraffin for energy, a grim irony that highlights the failures of sustainable development in the region.
The people suffer a double tragedy which threatens their livelihoods as firstly, they were forcibly displaced from the resource-rich flood plain of the Zambezi River to the dry, marginal escarpments in a place now called Binga, in Matabeleland North province in north-western Zimbabwe, and even worse, they have been hard hit by the impacts of climate change.
“Back then, I was just a child, but I remember vividly how my parents weren’t consulted. We were loaded onto trucks and dumped on rocky terrain, where survival remains a struggle,” recalls Mugonde Mchimba, a Tonga elder in the Manjolo communal area of Binga, to which Chief Binga adds, “Initially, we believed the waters of the Great Zambezi River would follow us.”
For generations, the Tonga people lived harmoniously with their natural environment, relying on local resources for sustenance and traditional medicine. The forced relocation not only severed their ties to the land but also eroded their cultural heritage and identity.
Chief Binga emphasises that moving them away from their ancestral lands harmed their customs and traditions. Binga district, predominantly occupied by the minority Tonga people, who are both geographically and socially marginalised, is remote and very poor, with a poverty prevalence of 88.3 per cent in 2012, which is high even for Zimbabwe, where the national average was 72 per cent in the same year. In addition, the district faces food insecurity, malnutrition, environmental and climate change related hazards, such as droughts and floods, negatively affecting women, children and youths.
The area is characterised by highly erratic and low rainfall of less than 450 millimetres per year, and poor soils – predominantly the Kalahari sandy soils, which have failed to improve food and nutrition security when crops are planted, leading to food insecurity.
Water scarcity has emerged as a significant challenge and the local people attribute this to less rainfall, extremely high temperatures, drought, and delayed rainfall onset, with rains lasting for shorter periods.
Other critical impacts of climate change affecting livelihoods in the district are livestock mortality which is caused by water shortages, pasture loss, and an increase in disease infestations, especially trypanosomiasis and sleeping sickness, caused by tsetse fly bites.
“Flooding and changes in wind patterns have constantly damaged our field and properties,” says Mweembe Mudenda, a village elder in the Pashu area of the district. In Sikalenge Ward of the district, for example, due to climate change there is now unstable rainfall and rising temperatures.
Sikalenge smallhoder farmer, Jairos Miugande, said. “Climate change has caused adverse effects in the region, leading to increased water stress and water shortages in the ward.’’ Mugande added that environmental changes, and the drying up of wetlands has led to the decrease in the availability of safe water.
“Specifically, there have been mentions of water resources becoming scarcer over the past 10 years contributing to the vulnerability of the population in terms of water availability,’’ said Mugande.
This highlights that Sikalenge Ward faces major water supply challenges, with water only available during the rainy season. Climate change has worsened extreme weather, impacting water availability and quality. After days of heavy rains, and as a result of climate change, in 2020, flooding hit Binga, damaged and destroyed bridges, roads and over 180 homes.
At least 37 homes were completely destroyed. One person died in the flooding. Hundreds of villagers perched in trees for safety for 24 hours. Local authorities said the flooded area is where four rivers meet: the Sibwambwa, Sikanda, Namakande and Manyenyengwa.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),adopted in 2007, affirms the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain their cultural identity, lands, and resources, and emphasises the importance of obtaining their free, prior, and informed consent before any development activities take place on their lands.
Additionally, according to Section 74 of the Zimbabwean Constitution, citizens have the right to freedom from arbitrary eviction. The law states that no one may be evicted from their home without a court order that considers all relevant circumstances. Yet, many displaced individuals find themselves living in limbo, their rights overlooked in the pursuit of development.
Environmental experts argue that natural resources are critical capital that must be conserved for any sustainable development to occur. “Planners often overlook this fundamental truth,” says Washington Zhakata, director of Climate Change Department in the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife.
He points out that colonial-era policies alienated local communities from their natural resources, turning them into criminals for utilising the land sustainably. Dr Rob Visser, an environmental advisor with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Harare, emphasises the importance of defining sustainable development.
“If we claim that economic development should be sustainable, we must clarify what that means,” he says. Many definitions suggest that sustainable development allows the present generation to use resources without compromising future generations’ access. Development projects often promise economic growth but can have devastating environmental impacts.
“We must examine trade-offs as projects progress to ensure social, economic, and environmental impacts align with sustainable development principles,” Dr. Visser warns. Dr Yemi Katerere, an environmental and policy expert and former regional director for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Southern Africa, underscores the need to reconcile economic growth with social and environmental objectives.
In his paper, “Ecologising Politics in Southern Africa: Whose Responsibility?” he argues that sustainable development must prioritise poverty reduction and empower communities to manage the resources they control.
The plight of marginalised Binga communities often forces them into short-term, unsustainable decisions for survival. Katerere suggests that poverty, climate change and environmental degradation are intertwined, exacerbated by their exclusion from decision-making processes.
“People must have the means to define challenges and solutions,” he asserts. While projects may signal growth, many in Zimbabwe face opposition, particularly in the mining sector. “We invest little effort in assessing the actual outcomes for people and the environment,” Katerere notes. Dr Shakespeare Maya, a leading expert on climate change issues and executive director of the Southern Centre for Energy and Environment in Harare, calls for change.
He argues that past tendencies to control land and economies must shift to focus on managing scarce resources. “Environmental issues are now central to global economic relations,” he states. As the cries from Tonga’s hinterland echo into the future, the challenge remains: how to create sustainable development that respects the rights and needs of all communities.
New Ziana
