A new EU funded program is aiming to equip rural farmers in Zimbabwe with tools and knowledge to adapt to climate change, which poses an existential threat to the country’s agricultural industry, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) South Africa office has said.
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Multilateral Environmental Agreements (ACP MEAs) Support Program, currently in its 3rd phase, intends to assist developing nations in complying with and enforcing major environmental accords. One area of focus is building resilience amongst farmers facing new climate realities.
The ACP MEAs programme is a joint partnership between the European Union, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The programme aims to build capacity in 79 countries in Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP) regions to support them in fulfilling their obligations as parties to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), to address the environmental challenges they face and to reap the benefits of improved environmental governance at regional and national levels.
“The ACP MEAs3 project is bringing hope to rural farmers in Zimbabwe, who are facing the challenges of climate change head-on and are determined to adapt using nature-based solutions,” said a spokesperson for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) South Africa office, one partner organization involved.
In recent decades, Zimbabwe has experienced increased frequency of droughts, floods and extreme heat waves that disrupt crop cycles. Many smallholder farms now struggle to remain viable.
The US$9 million ACP MEAs3 programme works specifically to mainstream implementation of the UN Biodiversity and Climate conventions at local levels. Agriculturally, this means promoting approaches like conservation agriculture, drought resistant seed varieties, soil and water conservation, and agroforestry.
Having undergone earlier phases, the current 3rd iteration assisting Zimbabwe and other ACP countries is funded by the EU and jointly implemented by FAO, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and other agencies.
