14 Dec 2023 Bridging information gaps to boost climate resiliency in Zimbabwe

The Methodist Development and Relief Agency (MeDRA), a WACC partner in Zimbabwe, is helping communities gain access to the knowledge they need to adapt to climate change.

Communities in Zimbabwe are becoming increasingly vulnerable to protracted droughts and other climate-related disasters, notes MeDRA, a nongovernmental organization affiliated with the Methodist Church in the country.

Severe gaps in information about climate change in the southern African nation has increased these vulnerabilities and has resulted in interventions that haven’t always been helpful, they say, as well as leading to a lack of community involvement in climate action.

MeDRA adds that there is little awareness on the part of the Zimbabwean government of Indigenous knowledge systems and practices that have been used for generations — knowledge that could be honed and replicated to respond to today’s problems and, ultimately, to save lives.

Promoting Indigenous knowledge

With support from WACC and the ACT Canada Climate Fund, MeDRA has developed activities to enhance communication about climate change, strengthen advocacy, and inform policymaking in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province.

The WACC partner has been conducting environmental and climate advocacy training for faith leaders and facilitating grassroots dialogue related to community climate adaptation and policy priorities.

This is improving communities’ ability to meet climate change challenges and giving rural communities in particular better access to vital information, they observe.

In consultation with local communities, the project has been documenting Indigenous knowledge and sustainable agricultural practices, facilitating knowledge sharing through different discussion spaces, and developing learning materials for wider dissemination.

The aim has been to have “strengthened community institutions to drive community-led adaptation efforts,” according to MeDRA.

Working the land in Buhera District, Manicaland, Zimbabwe.
Photo: Tapiwa Zvakavapano/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

WACC works in partnership with MeDRA and other communication rights and sustainable development organizations worldwide through its Communication for All Program (CAP), with support from Bread for the World-Germany.