By Memory Mudzani
Zimbabwe and several other Southern African countries are expected to suffer drought conditions in the annual rain season which has already started in October 2023 to April 2024, which coincides with the regional summer cropping season, according weather scientists.
The forecast drought conditions are traced to a weather pattern called El Niño, which has traditionally badly affected farming production in Zimbabwe.
According to information recorded by Zimfact El Niño refers to a cycle of warming and cooling events that happens along the equator in the Pacific Ocean leading to an increase in sea surface temperatures across the Pacific, the warming phase of the phenomenon called El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) stimulates drought conditions.
ENSO creates both dry and hot conditions that negatively affect food crops while the cooling part of the cycle is called La Niña and has the opposite effect.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says that El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years, setting the stage for a likely surge in global temperatures and disruptive weather and climate patterns.
El Niño causes drought and heatwaves, affects water supply for domestic, animal and industrial use and hits farming output for rain-fed agriculture.
The El Niño poses a threat to the agricultural livelihoods of millions of people globally, in Southern Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, the impacts of El Niño have been felt across all sectors affecting the most vulnerable communities.
El Niño and La Niña events happen every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule ,they usually last for 9-12 months but have been known to last for several years at a time.
El Niño affects weather and storm patterns in different parts of the world, it come in different varieties, no two El Niño events are exactly alike in intensity.
Stakeholders are encouraged to mitigate the immediate commit resources to fund early action, initiate collaborative action between private and public actors to mitigate the socio-economic and environmental risk posed by El Niño and to facilitate awareness campaigns to educate the public on the strategies to mitigate the impact of El Niño.
Weather scientist noted that, Stepping up investment in resilience building for sustainable rural agriculture in Southern Africa, upscaling social protection, adopting SMART agriculture techniques, climate change mitigation through smart livelihoods options, and management of natural resources will help in mitigating the effects of El Nino.
The rural communities are encouraged to make use of indigenous knowledge to enhance and ensure crop and livestock production and also to put in place resilient water management systems.
Farmers are urged to Learn modern agricultural practices ,use drought resistant varieties and to do due diligence by seeking expert advice on the best crop choice to plant during El Niño and this will help them to cope during El Niño.
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