Multi-stakeholder workshop on sustainable land use in Zimbabwe

adelphi research has recently completed a multi-stakeholder workshop and field visit in Zimbabwe, organised as part of the European Commission research project - G-MOSAIC. The workshop was organized by G-MOSAIC partners Joint Research Centre, adelphi research, the Centre for Geoinformatics of the University of Salzburg (Z_GIS) and the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission (ZFC), a unit within Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

Since 2000 there have been wide-ranging changes in land ownership which have had a massive impact on models of cultivation in Zimbabwe. At the same time there has been a major decline in agricultural productivity, with an impact on food security, particularly in drought-prone areas.

For the last two years the G-MOSAIC partners have worked with the ZFC to monitor and map environmental changes in parts of Zimbabwe, using satellite imagery and information from field surveys. During the two-day workshop, experts from the City of Harare, the Environmental Management Agency, the Geography Department of the University of Zimbabwe, the Department of the Surveyor General, Department of Agricultural Research and Extension discussed the patterns of changes detected in areas of Harare.

Experts also addressed the urgent issue of land degradation. Across the Southern African region there is a need to identify ways of managing land, water and crops to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability. Specific farming techniques have been developed which may be better adapted to the socio-economic and environmental situation in the drought-prone areas of Zimbabwe.

During the subsequent two-day field visit to the Eastern Highlands, project partners were able to discuss perceptions of changes in land use, land degradation and associated farming practices with members of local farming communities who have established farming activities on former commercial farms.

In future there may be scope for new scientific and research collaborations between G-MOSAIC researchers and local institutions in Zimbabwe.