REGULATORY roadblocks and macroeconomic conditions are hampering the growth of digital infrastructure to a level where it can be used in climate adaption, a new report shows.
Climate adaption through digital technology refers to the use of advanced digital tools and innovations to help communities, businesses and governments adjust to the impacts of climate change.
This involves leveraging technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and the Internet of Things to monitor and predict climate-related risks, enhance decision-making and implement strategies to reduce vulnerabilities.
The call for the use of technology in climate-related risks comes amid the worsening climatic conditions in the region and an increased frequency of droughts.
A newly-released document, The Potential for Digital Adaptation in Agriculture in the Zambezi River: Basin Countries Regional Assessment Report found that Zimbabwe still had a long way to go before achieving digital adaptation in agriculture.
The report was jointly done by the International Water Management Institute, African Development Bank and Global Center on Adaption.
“Digital infrastructure is one of Zimbabwe’s relative strengths. However, regulatory roadblocks and macroeconomic conditions hamper its growth. Zimbabwe’s international connectivity infrastructure is relatively well-developed with optical fibre connecting major cities and urban areas,” the report read.
“However large gaps remain in rural areas, resulting in inequalities in access to information and different adaptive capacities between the well-served and those who are not.
- Goat scheme a game changer: Minister
- Lewis Ndlovu pens children’s book
- Regulatory roadblocks hamper climate adaption
Keep Reading
“Ageing infrastructure and insufficient resourcing, combined with overall macroeconomic distress, electricity and connectivity issues, are some of the major bottlenecks.”
The report examines the prevalent and most challenging climate risks that smallholder farmers and small businesses face in the Zambezi River Basin countries.
Particularly, the report seeks to understand how the role of digital technology can fit in climate adaptation and proposes interventions to accelerate and scale up the use of digital technology in climate adaptation.
“The mid-Zambezi basin communities are being severely impacted by climate hazards such as droughts, floods, high temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns. Therefore, digital climate adaptation technologies offer an opportunity to attain food security. However, many cannot afford such technologies,” it read.
“Therefore, there is a need for awareness campaigns along with strategies that enable farmers to access the technologies and improved ICT infrastructure that are currently insufficient. Capacity development is required for key organisations such as the Department of Civil Protection with suitable equipment for improved data generation and reporting.”
The report found that there is also a need for digital skill development programmes to ensure a successful transformation process.
“The availability of affordable smartphones is providing women the opportunity to own phones and receive equal access to information to enhance their preparedness. Strategies need to be put in place to complement smartphones and provide access to a wide range of digital tools including computers, GPS equipment and tablets,” the report read.
“Through scaling the adoption of digital tools, many opportunities can be derived apart from delivering information, data collection can also be done and this makes it faster and cheaper. To encourage adoption, there is a need for all stakeholders to be involved. The government can promote local production of some of the ICT equipment.”
Through the country’s goal to achieve an upper middle-class economy by 2030, digitalisation is a key component in the achievement of this goal, according to the report.
“Zimbabwe needs to make regulatory improvements as well as investments in four interconnected areas across all pillars: policy and regulatory framework, resource management and coordination, governance and capacity building,” the report read.
“Much work remains to be done both on fixing the macroeconomic fundamentals and yet these also create an opportunity for leapfrogging and incentive for further innovation, just as the case of digital financial services illustrates.”
The report noted that the lack of digital literacy needed to also be addressed at the academic level through the inclusion of ICT in the curriculum.
