By Mako Muzenda
Farmers and regular citizens in Zimbabwe alike have gotten used to a pattern: by 13 or 14 October the first rains of the rainy season arrive. This year no one expected the pattern to be any different. With careful planning and confidence in the weather they readied their soil and planted their seed in preparation, but there wasn’t enough planning to save them from the effects of El Nino.
The weather conditions brought on by El Nino have been felt across continents, such as the unseasonably warm winter in parts of Europe and the United States of America. In Northern African, Ethiopia faces one of the worst droughts it’s had in 30 years, while Somalia might have to deal with heavy flooding. El Nino has been toughest on the people and countries whose livelihoods and stability relies on weather conditions doing exactly what they’ve done for years. When the weather didn’t comply, a chain of events unfolded that no one could have foreseen.
The dry spell stretched into November, and temperatures soared without any rainfall to break the heat. Even during the evening, the relentless heat prevented a good night’s sleep. Without moisture the crops that had been planted with the promise of rain withered, burned, and died. Whispers of drought started to circulate, whispers of drought not only in Zimbabwe but in neighboring South Africa and Malawi.
These rumors were true: Southern Africa was in the middle of drought. A region highly dependent on agriculture both on a commercial and subsistence level, a wide-scale drought was not good news. Not only did it spell trouble economically, it also threatened food security and nutrition levels. Millions were left vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition, and while some countries have the resources and manpower to combat the drought (South Africans have started an initiative called OperationHydrate), others are not able to do what’s necessary to assist those hardest hit.
Just when it couldn’t get any hotter, it rained the week before Christmas. Only in certain areas of Zimbabwe (including the capital Harare) was there rainfall, but for some that was a sufficient signal that the rainy season had arrived. Eager to recoup their losses from the first failed round of planting, farmers started afresh and planted their crops a second time. It was an ill-fated decision: the rains only lasted a week, and by the first day of 2016, the drought was back on.
For the Southern African country, the possibility of poor rains is always at the back of everyone’s minds. El Nino has struck Zimbabwe before, with a fierce drought in the 1997/1998 season that affected crop outputs and livestock. In Zimbabwe and South Africa’s Limpopo region, images of skinny and diseased cattle are not uncommon, with desperate farmers selling cows for as little as USD$30 (cows usually sell for USD$300) trying to make some money before the animals die of thirst or hunger. South Africa is facing its worst farming in almost ten years, with Malawi’s child population under threat of malnutrition and the illnesses associated with it.
In Harare, it’s started raining again. It comes in short angry bursts or faint drizzles, but the city breathes a collective sigh of relief. Perhaps now the rains will stay and the weather will go back to normal. For people in farming regions it’s already too late. The combination of unbearable and no rains or irrigation means that close to 10% of the country’s population will need food aid to see the rest of the farming season through.
The effects of El Nino have been felt from the shining metropolis to the quiet rural areas, but the discomfort, destruction and chaos left in its wake will take time to recover from. For the residents of Southern Africa, it will be difficult times ahead until the weather goes back to its trusted rhythm.
Mako Muzenda is a Journalism student currently studying at Rhodes University. Her interests are history, media theories, and contemporary African affairs
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