A LATEST World Bank Group (WBG) report has painted a gloomy picture of Zimbabwe’s key sectors such as agriculture, water, forestry and energy because of the devastating effects of climate change.
The report said Zimbabwe was at high risk of groundwater drought.
“In particular, groundwater recharge is highly dependent on rainfall and, therefore, decreases in rainfall will negatively impact groundwater availability,” the WBG said in the report titled Climate Risk Country Profile: Zimbabwe.
“It was estimated that the percentage of population at very high risk of groundwater drought could rise from 32% to 86% without measures to adapt to the effects of climate change.”
The energy sector is also being affected by climate change with effects ranging from changing energy demand for heating and cooling, affecting energy supply composition and technologies and requiring adaptation measures to reduce climate-induced risks.
“Rising temperatures will likely reduce energy demand for heating, while increasing energy demand for residential and commercial cooling,” the report read.
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In forestry, climate change is likely to influence plantation of forest ecosystems and extents of forest ecosystems.
“Climate change will potentially influence the plantation species composition of the forest ecosystems, extents of forest ecosystems, species volume and density, biodiversity characteristics, frequency and intensity of forest fires,” the report said.
Also, climate-induced heat stress, droughts and reduced rainfall are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the region.
Agriculture has not been spared as seen in recent droughts, the report said.
“The majority of the agriculture is rain-fed, which makes the sector highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially precipitation variability and climate-induced natural hazards.”
Zimbabwe is in the midst of its worst drought in years that has left over five million citizens in need of urgent food aid.