**4. Climate change resilience and mitigation in Zimbabwe**

Climate change is a global challenge which is not confined to a country's national boundaries. So, climate action can start to be analyzed from the global level going down until it reaches the local level. This is where global environmental governance comes into play as countries around the world come together to formulate solutions against climate change. In this respect, numerous attempts have been made to reach a global consensus to combat climate change. This has resulted in the formulation of multilateral agreements on various issues relating to nature which have a bearing on confronting challenges associated with climate change. These agreements constitute part of international institutions which governments can tap in to formulate their specific policies and programs. Zimbabwe is a signatory to or a member of several international agreements, conventions and protocols such as the Paris Agreement, Agenda 21, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Agenda for Sustainable Development (AfSD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. All these are global and regional institutional mechanisms by which the country has committed itself in unison with other nations to formulate its policies and regulations which are relevant to the efforts against

**35**

ginalized majority.

*Agroforestry as a Small Landholder's Tool for Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation…*

policies, while there are specific laws crafted to cater for these issues.

The Forestry Commission has been instrumental in spearheading reforestation programs in Zimbabwe. The parastatal has worked with other state agencies, non-governmental organizations, private companies and local communities

through various kinds of cooperation and working relationships. Using their motto, "Trees are Life" they have run campaigns to promote the conservation of trees. The National Tree Planting Day, which is synonymous with this parastatal is part of this campaign. Within these efforts, there has been the promotion of the propagation and growing of fruit trees. However, within these efforts to conserve trees and reclaim degraded landscapes, agroforestry has not been comprehensively developed and adopted as a viable initiative in favor of climate change resilience and mitigation. The state needs to seriously consider supporting initiatives that integrate agroforestry in the broad environmental policy and nature conservation. Agroforestry then should not be narrowly defined through the growing of fruit trees but taken as a broad nature-based initiative that encompasses environmental and agricultural production systems that have spiral effects on other sectors of the economy. These productions systems are simply anchored on the integration of trees and woody shrubs. This is the reason why all stakeholders need to work in unison under this clarion call to reduce the impact of climate change which affect the country as part of the less developed world with severe impacts on the poor, vulnerable and mar-

**5. Agroforestry as a nature-based intervention against climate change**

Embracing nature-based interventions against climate change is a compelling option available to small landholders in Zimbabwe. With a greater percentage of the population already practising some form of agriculture, agroforestry can be easily integrated into the existing household livelihood strategies. In some cases, families are already into agroforestry but not within the extent to which they can reap greater benefits both directly in getting, for example, food or firewood and indirectly through ecosystem services which help to ease the impact of climate change. These interventions can be "sustainable agriculture, integrated water resources

climate change. All these efforts are underpinned by the need to take good care of the natural environment so that it can in turn provide humanity with natural goods and services that sustain lives. In the same vein, that is where one can contextualize the role and subsequent integration of institutions and landscapes through agroforestry as one of the tools that can be used to enhance smallholder farmers' resilience

At a national level, these internationally crafted institutions from the world and regional bodies provide an overall framework and specific targets that government policies, laws, plans and programs can formulate and aim to achieve. National governments are also organized in various ways in pursuit of their specific environmental sustainability goals. Zimbabwe has various ministries and agencies which deal with issues relating to land, agriculture, water, forestry, fisheries, energy and other sectors that are all integrated and coordinated in a way that recognizes the critical role of nature and thus help to fight against the effects of climate change. The various ministries relating to land, agriculture, environment and water, and the various agencies like the Environmental Management Agency, Forestry Commission, Agricultural Extension Services, for instance, all have specific mandates, but their coordination and integration help to take care of the country's international environmental obligations while striving to people's livelihoods and welfare. Agroforestry in this case fits into broad agricultural and environmental

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97827*

and mitigation against climate change.

#### *Agroforestry as a Small Landholder's Tool for Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97827*

climate change. All these efforts are underpinned by the need to take good care of the natural environment so that it can in turn provide humanity with natural goods and services that sustain lives. In the same vein, that is where one can contextualize the role and subsequent integration of institutions and landscapes through agroforestry as one of the tools that can be used to enhance smallholder farmers' resilience and mitigation against climate change.

At a national level, these internationally crafted institutions from the world and regional bodies provide an overall framework and specific targets that government policies, laws, plans and programs can formulate and aim to achieve. National governments are also organized in various ways in pursuit of their specific environmental sustainability goals. Zimbabwe has various ministries and agencies which deal with issues relating to land, agriculture, water, forestry, fisheries, energy and other sectors that are all integrated and coordinated in a way that recognizes the critical role of nature and thus help to fight against the effects of climate change. The various ministries relating to land, agriculture, environment and water, and the various agencies like the Environmental Management Agency, Forestry Commission, Agricultural Extension Services, for instance, all have specific mandates, but their coordination and integration help to take care of the country's international environmental obligations while striving to people's livelihoods and welfare. Agroforestry in this case fits into broad agricultural and environmental policies, while there are specific laws crafted to cater for these issues.

The Forestry Commission has been instrumental in spearheading reforestation programs in Zimbabwe. The parastatal has worked with other state agencies, non-governmental organizations, private companies and local communities through various kinds of cooperation and working relationships. Using their motto, "Trees are Life" they have run campaigns to promote the conservation of trees. The National Tree Planting Day, which is synonymous with this parastatal is part of this campaign. Within these efforts, there has been the promotion of the propagation and growing of fruit trees. However, within these efforts to conserve trees and reclaim degraded landscapes, agroforestry has not been comprehensively developed and adopted as a viable initiative in favor of climate change resilience and mitigation. The state needs to seriously consider supporting initiatives that integrate agroforestry in the broad environmental policy and nature conservation. Agroforestry then should not be narrowly defined through the growing of fruit trees but taken as a broad nature-based initiative that encompasses environmental and agricultural production systems that have spiral effects on other sectors of the economy. These productions systems are simply anchored on the integration of trees and woody shrubs. This is the reason why all stakeholders need to work in unison under this clarion call to reduce the impact of climate change which affect the country as part of the less developed world with severe impacts on the poor, vulnerable and marginalized majority.

## **5. Agroforestry as a nature-based intervention against climate change**

Embracing nature-based interventions against climate change is a compelling option available to small landholders in Zimbabwe. With a greater percentage of the population already practising some form of agriculture, agroforestry can be easily integrated into the existing household livelihood strategies. In some cases, families are already into agroforestry but not within the extent to which they can reap greater benefits both directly in getting, for example, food or firewood and indirectly through ecosystem services which help to ease the impact of climate change. These interventions can be "sustainable agriculture, integrated water resources

*Agroforestry - Small Landholder's Tool for Climate Change Resiliency and Mitigation*

poor soils, thereby having a low carrying capacity [3].

climate change resilience and mitigation [3].

**4. Climate change resilience and mitigation in Zimbabwe**

Climate change is a global challenge which is not confined to a country's national boundaries. So, climate action can start to be analyzed from the global level going down until it reaches the local level. This is where global environmental governance comes into play as countries around the world come together to formulate solutions against climate change. In this respect, numerous attempts have been made to reach a global consensus to combat climate change. This has resulted in the formulation of multilateral agreements on various issues relating to nature which have a bearing on confronting challenges associated with climate change. These agreements constitute part of international institutions which governments can tap in to formulate their specific policies and programs. Zimbabwe is a signatory to or a member of several international agreements, conventions and protocols such as the Paris Agreement, Agenda 21, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Agenda for Sustainable Development (AfSD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. All these are global and regional institutional mechanisms by which the country has committed itself in unison with other nations to formulate its policies and regulations which are relevant to the efforts against

due to adverse agro-ecological conditions characterized by low annual rainfall and

Under these circumstances, the biogeographical conditions in such areas have been worsened leaving the majority of the people who largely depend on agriculture at a vulnerable position where their capacity to adapt to climate change impacts is curtailed [3, 9, 32]. For example, shifts in the micro-climate have been witnessed with low locally induced rainfall during the rainy season than what it used to be 20–30 years ago. The increase in the bare surface due to clearance of the ground cover has increased the levels of soil erosion due to runoff and wind leading to the development of gullies while rivers and water reservoirs have been silted resulting in less fresh water available for domestic consumption and agricultural production in turn. Wetlands that have provided key environmental goods and services have been destroyed to pave way for agriculture due to the rise in the demand for land. Overgrazing has been due to a lack of control of stocking levels to levels of the carrying capacity of the land. With thin topsoils, the water holding capacity of the soil has been reduced, which together with increased runoff when it rains, and low annual rainfall, have eventually reduced the groundwater recharge. The decline in the water table levels also means that there will be less underground water available for extraction during times of crises in the dry season. Reduced water supplies have a direct effect on agricultural production [3]. The decline in agricultural production subsequently reduces available household food, their earnings, and ultimately the quality of life [33]. Environmental goods and services are variable both spatially and temporally across landscapes depending on the state of human-nature relationships [21]. Causes of climate change are global (with developing countries contributing far less), its impact at the local level is critical in such conditions of general environmental degradation. Therefore, it is now imperative to prevent, decrease and scale back the deterioration of landscapes to secure food and water while enhancing

**34**

management and sustainable forest management" [34]. Agroforestry as an ecosystem-based solution against climate change fits well with these nature-based interventions as the strategy has elements of sustainability, agriculture, water and forest resources management rolled into one. Most of the livelihood strategies in the rural areas are anchored on direct dependence on nature and it will be in the interest of the people there to take care of their immediate environs for them to sustain their livelihoods. Urban development had drastically the landscapes wherever towns and cities are found. However, the proliferation of urban agriculture in Zimbabwe has become an acceptable practice within backyards or open spaces around the suburbs. Home gardens, as one method of agroforestry, are very appropriate in this scenario of urban agriculture that is already existing there. This could explain the prevalence of fruit trees around people's houses in the towns and cities of Zimbabwe.

The land produces and acts as a reservoir of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and functions in the interplay between energy, water and atmospheric gases between the ground and air above it [12]. Natural forests that have not been damage can store up to 510 billion tons of carbon dioxide and the world will not achieve its targets set by the Paris Agreement if forests continue to be damaged [27]. Key sectors such as agriculture, forestry and other land uses account for 76% of the overall GHGs produced in Zimbabwe [14]. In this respect, it has been found out that "land-based mitigation options rank among the most cost-effective opportunities to sequester carbon emissions. Economic evaluations of various climate change mitigation alternatives show that capturing carbon through restoring degraded lands (including degraded-forest) is a cost-effective option that offers multiple co-benefits" [35]. To mark World Wildlife Day by CITES on 3 March 2021, the theme was "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet," to emphasize the critical part played by forests and their associated biodiversity in supporting human lives especially indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs) who manage 28% of global terrestrial ecosystems [28]. The role of IPLCs should be acknowledged and taken into consideration to frame everlasting solutions in the fight against climate change impacts through nature-based interventions [36–38]. A study of communities around the Middle Zambezi Biosphere Reserve has also shown that the people have rich local ecological knowledge which helps them in raising their resilience against the external conditions induced by climate change [6].

This shows that forests should not just be protected from further degradation, but they need to be reclaimed too since 73% of the Earth's land surface has been modified by human activities [27]. Thus, there is a need to engage in natural resources management systems that serve human needs in tandem with the sustainability of forests [28]. These efforts to restore biodiversity can succeed when the cultural systems are put at the center of methods that yield win-win solutions for natural ecosystems and climate change resilience and mitigation [37]. Just like any country that is committed to the AfSD, Zimbabwe has a chance to play its part through SDG 15 which deals with "life on land" and specifically to achieve target 15.3 that refers to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) [14]. Good management of the land helps in lowering the adverse effects of climate change while the conservation of forest resources is critical in fighting poverty [12, 14, 39].

To tackle climate change, one has to understand the intricate ways through which people engage in activities to sustain their lives interface with natural ecosystems as these are not mutually exclusive. In her research, Laura Vang Rasmussen, an Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark puts it aptly that, "the problem at the moment is that forest conservation, agricultural development, and poverty reduction are viewed as distinct from each other. However, the three factors do influence each other. Strategies to increase agricultural productivity can harm forests. On the other hand, an increase in wooded

**37**

*Agroforestry as a Small Landholder's Tool for Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation…*

areas makes it more difficult to produce enough food. So we hope that our research can contribute to highlighting the complex dynamics between agricultural productivity, deforestation, poverty and food security," [39]. I then add that for example, forests and their dynamic relationship with other ecosystem constituents play a critical role in dealing with climate change impacts. In the same vein, the practice of agroforestry is an attempt to restore natural ecosystems while increasing agricultural productivity that raises outputs for the benefit of human beings. This is borne out of the understanding that the livelihoods of vulnerable people are anchored on

The majority of the Zimbabwean population is rural where they largely practice a mixture of arable agriculture and livestock production on communal land that is based on common-pool resources. These agricultural production systems are mainly in the mode of family farming which is based on family labor working on small landholdings. The general set-up under communal land tenure in rural Zimbabwe is such that people occupy individual landholdings for settlement (housing and basic amenities) and arable agriculture with common areas under pastures (for example, forest landscapes) and sources of water like wetlands, springs, rivers or man-made features like dams, wells and boreholes. Earlier on, I have highlighted how some of the agricultural practices by smallholder farmers are leading to land degradation which has devastating effects on productivity and increasing the levels of vulnerability and high risk of climate change impacts. So, there is a need to look again at the structures and practices of smallholder agriculture in the country with the idea to leverage them with agroforestry as a complementary strategy. Agroforestry here will be a way to sustainable livelihoods through ecosystem goods and services while increasing capacity for climate change resilience and resilience. Adoption of agroforestry at the household level by the small landholders will cumulatively uplift the local communities' climate change resilience and mitigation. This should work well with family farming that integrates various traditional and cultural values and practices in supporting their livelihoods [36, 37]. As farmers increase the range of crops which they can grow as a technique to increase productivity, studies have shown that this technique is useful for smallholder farmers to cope with climate change impacts [1, 33]. It can be argued that this method can be extended to including agroforestry to increase the range of what smallholder farmers can grow on their land [33]. This can be accomplished through, for example, intercropping of crops and tree species that complement each other together with conservation agriculture

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97827*

natural resources including forests [30].

which helps to regulate soil moisture content [38, 40].

**6. Discussion of agroforestry as a small landholder tool**

Issues that relate to the factors that influence people's involvement in forest management programs need to be studied to determine the appropriate interventions [30]. Rural-based households in Zimbabwe encounter many hurdles to come out with relevant and applicable ways to cope with climate change impacts [8]. These issues need to be addressed and the government should lead the initiatives of mobilizing resources and participation of other stakeholders to spearhead supportive programs that integrate agroforestry as a climate change resilience and mitigation strategy. This is because it has been noted that the government's capacity to implement effective programs to combat climate change is limited despite having the right institutional mechanisms in place [5]. For instance, a study in two districts of Makoni and Wedza within the eastern Manicaland Province showed that smallholder farmers were not well informed about climate change though they could be able to describe conditions that show the onset of the phenomenon [11].

#### *Agroforestry as a Small Landholder's Tool for Climate Change Resilience and Mitigation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97827*

areas makes it more difficult to produce enough food. So we hope that our research can contribute to highlighting the complex dynamics between agricultural productivity, deforestation, poverty and food security," [39]. I then add that for example, forests and their dynamic relationship with other ecosystem constituents play a critical role in dealing with climate change impacts. In the same vein, the practice of agroforestry is an attempt to restore natural ecosystems while increasing agricultural productivity that raises outputs for the benefit of human beings. This is borne out of the understanding that the livelihoods of vulnerable people are anchored on natural resources including forests [30].

The majority of the Zimbabwean population is rural where they largely practice a mixture of arable agriculture and livestock production on communal land that is based on common-pool resources. These agricultural production systems are mainly in the mode of family farming which is based on family labor working on small landholdings. The general set-up under communal land tenure in rural Zimbabwe is such that people occupy individual landholdings for settlement (housing and basic amenities) and arable agriculture with common areas under pastures (for example, forest landscapes) and sources of water like wetlands, springs, rivers or man-made features like dams, wells and boreholes. Earlier on, I have highlighted how some of the agricultural practices by smallholder farmers are leading to land degradation which has devastating effects on productivity and increasing the levels of vulnerability and high risk of climate change impacts. So, there is a need to look again at the structures and practices of smallholder agriculture in the country with the idea to leverage them with agroforestry as a complementary strategy. Agroforestry here will be a way to sustainable livelihoods through ecosystem goods and services while increasing capacity for climate change resilience and resilience. Adoption of agroforestry at the household level by the small landholders will cumulatively uplift the local communities' climate change resilience and mitigation. This should work well with family farming that integrates various traditional and cultural values and practices in supporting their livelihoods [36, 37]. As farmers increase the range of crops which they can grow as a technique to increase productivity, studies have shown that this technique is useful for smallholder farmers to cope with climate change impacts [1, 33]. It can be argued that this method can be extended to including agroforestry to increase the range of what smallholder farmers can grow on their land [33]. This can be accomplished through, for example, intercropping of crops and tree species that complement each other together with conservation agriculture which helps to regulate soil moisture content [38, 40].
