"AgMIP research closes some of the gaps relating to future climate scenarios and is the basis for undertaking local level specific climate change adaptation measures."
The AgMIP CLARE project came in to address one of the main challenges to effective climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe. Development of climate change adaptation strategies has been restricted by limited availability of data and evidence to project future climate impacts under future conditions and inform required adaptation actions to adequately respond.
The coming of AgMIP research closes some of the gaps relating to future climate scenarios and is the basis for undertaking local level specific climate change adaptation measures. Through strategic engagements, AgMIP CLARE research findings can be infused in the policy making processes through to implementation.
The Government of Zimbabwe places high priority on the agriculture sector. The country steps up its climate actions in line with its own Vision 2030 and the Paris Agreement provisions, where both climate change adaptation (National Adaptation Plans, NAPs) and mitigation (Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs) are critical to support the agricultural sector.
Evidence and information generated from the AgMIP CLARE project can feed into the on-going NAP and NDC processes. As the implementation of the NDC and NAP is rolled out, the findings of AgMIP CLARE will become very useful and relevant in informing local level adaptation measures building on district level studies conducted by the project such as Nkayi.
Through involvement with AgMIP CLARE, we had the opportunity to participate in the revision of future climate and adaptation scenarios for Zimbabwe as a country and implications for particular farming systems like mixed crop livestock farming in a District like Nkayi. This enhanced our understanding of the future climate impacts, as well as entry points for policy development and implementation, which are critical for strategic planning considering the expected future climate.
The AgMIP CLARE work complements the Climate Change Management Department’s (CCMD) mandate on climate change assessments and planning for adaptation and mitigation actions with a focus on local level interventions supported by national policies. For long, reliance has been on international publications on future climate scenarios. Through AgMIP CLARE simulation modeling there is Zimbabwe specific high-resolution information available, which represents plausible future scenarios including details on climate and agricultural production.
This can help to build local experts’ capacities in doing such research work. The outputs of the AgMIP CLARE project can be integrated in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) processes, which take the future climate and socio-economic scenarios as the basis for developing climate change adaptation for all sectors including agriculture.
In addition, the key messages as elaborated in the jointly revised policy briefs reach out to policy makers, for strengthening research and policy linkages in the country. The recommendations inform effective and efficient climate change adaptation strategies towards resilient and sustainable agriculture in Zimbabwe.
The policy brief revision with the AgMIP CLARE team made us realize that a lot of relevant research is being conducted, however it is not fully feeding into the policy formulation processes. Various Government reports and plans including the National Communication and National Development Strategies, generate information and identify gaps that require research to develop scientific evidence to inform appropriate interventions.
There is need for early and continuous engagement of policy makers in identifying research priorities, sharing evidence through appropriate channels, to enhance collaboration between research institutions and Ministries, Departments and Development Agencies.
Furthermore, there is need to revitalize and capacitate existing research organizations, mobilize resources from national annual budgets as well as international organizations to sustain research addressing relevant climate change adaptation challenges. The CCMD structure has officers responsible for research coordination and stands ready for collaboration and facilitating demand driven research for development towards enhanced climate change adaptation and resilience.
The on-going NAP formulation and revised NDC prioritize climate smart agriculture as an adaptation measure with mitigation co-benefits. Going forward the CCMD will integrate the findings of the AgMIP CLARE into the formulation of the NAP which is to be finalized in 2022 and the NDC implementation action plan. These will include the results of future climate scenario modelling to inform adaptation options that have been contextualized for specific agricultural systems and agro-ecological zones.
Further, CCMD will also integrate proven adaptation measures from the studies as pilots in the on-going and planned demonstrations of climate change adaptation measures. The findings of the project will also be used to inform the climate change adaptation project formulation as the country will be pursuing various climate finance facilities such as the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund where CCMD is the Focal Point. The simulation models projecting performance of particular interventions will thereby build on what is already there, high level NDC options, and help to define adaptation and mitigation interventions that are meaningful for particular contexts and clients.
