Five years after Cyclone Idai devastated eastern Zimbabwe, relocated communities face a new threat – water shortages – with authorities saying they lack money to build a dam
It was water that stripped nearly everything from Tambudzai Chikweya’s life on the night of March 15, 2019.
As Cyclone Idai tore through Chimanimani, her hometown in Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands, it unleashed floods that swept away her house and claimed the life of her eldest daughter. Chikweya was rescued only after spending the night pinned between a wardrobe and a bed, unable to free herself from the mud.
More than five years later, water again stands in the way of Chikweya’s attempts to build a new life for herself and her family. But this time, the problem is that there isn’t enough of it.
The mother-of-three has been resettled in Runyararo, a vast expanse of sun-baked semi-arid land where the Zimbabwe government has been building brick homes for hundreds of people displaced by the cyclone, on the site of a former colonial farm more than 60 kilometres away from Chimanimani.
High temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius and erratic rainfall make access to water in Runyararo “inadequate”, according to government documents. The situation has been made worse this year by a severe drought – dubbed “historic” by the UN – which has affected much of Southern Africa and was sparked by the El Niño weather pattern.
“Not having enough water and drought-induced hunger are challenges here,” Chikweya said, speaking through a translator when Climate Home visited her home in Runyararo last September on a trip organised by Danish humanitarian NGO DanChurchAid.
“It was a very difficult decision for us [to move here],” she added, “It weighed on us for a long time.”
Tambudzai Chikweya walks past some of the land she was allocated by the government as part of the resettlement project. Photo: Matteo Civillini
The reality has also proved tough. Standing in front of a small vegetable patch where she grows tomatoes and kale, Chikweya described the struggle she faces in getting enough food to feed herself and her children at least once a day.
She tried to grow potatoes on a large plot of land donated by the government – but the crops failed in the bone-dry soil as a result of the stifling heat and a shortage of water.
Climate Home asked Zimbabwe’s government why storm-hit communities were resettled in a known drought-prone area, but had not received a response by the time of the publication.
Multiple climate threats
Chikweya’s situation underscores the wide range of climate-related threats affecting vulnerable communities in a country like Zimbabwe where the frequency and intensity of both storms and droughts are projected to increase as the planet heats up.
The situation in Runyararo also highlights the complexities of the critical decisions facing cash-strapped governments that need to ensure their efforts to help people recover from one disaster also make them better able to withstand future hazards.