Water dries up for Zambian farmers

DEFORESTATION has affected the water cycle in one of Zambia’s largest charcoal-producing regions, forcing residents to adopt unsustainable farming practices in the wetlands, say experts.

Since the 1990s, several perennial streams in the Kaoma district of Western Province have become seasonal and some have even dried up, while the water level in the Luena River, which flows through the town of Kaoma, has dropped. Morris Muchinda, director of the Zambia Meteorological Department, said there was a correlation between the streams drying up and charcoal production, which began in the district on a fairly large scale in the 1990s.Zambia is one of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) top ten countries with the highest annual deforestation rates.Most of the trees are used for firewood or to produce charcoal.Trees draw groundwater up through their roots and release it into the atmosphere, so when forests are removed the region cannot hold as much water, which could lead to a drier climate, said Muchinda.In 2007, the Zambian government launched the National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA), which outlines the measures required to cope with climate change in all critical sectors of the economy, such as health, agriculture and water.Deforestation also affects the carbon cycle warming up the atmosphere, and is responsible for 1,6 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year, amounting to one-fifth of the global total.According to the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research, this is more than the combined total contributed by the world’s energy-intensive transport sectors.Some estimates put the contribution of deforestation to climate change at almost the same level as fossil fuel use in the United States.Rainfall in Kaoma town has declined over the past three decades.Between 1960 and 1970 the town recorded an average rainfall of 945 mm and by 2000 dropped to 823 mm.However, deforestation is not the only culprit, said Martin Mbewe, a project manager for the global environmental watchdog, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Zambia.”The practice of cultivating around spring water systems, and clearing riverine vegetation in general, disturbs the water-holding capacity of the river systems and predisposes them to drying.”The district’s residents, who depend on farming and fishing as their main source of livelihood, have been forced into coping with these changes.Kaoma is a large maize-producing district in the province.Mubita Nyambe, a subsistence farmer who cultivates a stretch of wetland on the outskirts of Kaoma town, told Irin News: “We grow crops like maize, beans, cabbage, and the harvests are quite good because the soil is fertile; it is able to support crops.But after one or two seasons it also becomes infertile, sometimes it becomes completely dry, then we have to move to another area.”Irin NewsMorris Muchinda, director of the Zambia Meteorological Department, said there was a correlation between the streams drying up and charcoal production, which began in the district on a fairly large scale in the 1990s.Zambia is one of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) top ten countries with the highest annual deforestation rates.Most of the trees are used for firewood or to produce charcoal.Trees draw groundwater up through their roots and release it into the atmosphere, so when forests are removed the region cannot hold as much water, which could lead to a drier climate, said Muchinda.In 2007, the Zambian government launched the National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA), which outlines the measures required to cope with climate change in all critical sectors of the economy, such as health, agriculture and water.Deforestation also affects the carbon cycle warming up the atmosphere, and is responsible for 1,6 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year, amounting to one-fifth of the global total.According to the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research, this is more than the combined total contributed by the world’s energy-intensive transport sectors.Some estimates put the contribution of deforestation to climate change at almost the same level as fossil fuel use in the United States.Rainfall in Kaoma town has declined over the past three decades.Between 1960 and 1970 the town recorded an average rainfall of 945 mm and by 2000 dropped to 823 mm.However, deforestation is not the only culprit, said Martin Mbewe, a project manager for the global environmental watchdog, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Zambia.”The practice of cultivating around spring water systems, and clearing riverine vegetation in general, disturbs the water-holding capacity of the river systems and predisposes them to drying.”The district’s residents, who depend on farming and fishing as their main source of livelihood, have been forced into coping with these changes.Kaoma is a large maize-producing district in the province.Mubita Nyambe, a subsistence farmer who cultivates a stretch of wetland on the outskirts of Kaoma town, told Irin News: “We grow crops like maize, beans, cabbage, and the harvests are quite good because the soil is fertile; it is able to support crops.But after one or two seasons it also becomes infertile, sometimes it becomes completely dry, then we have to move to another area.”Irin News