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On the 24th of June 2024, Sabino Canyon International College, Oxford Study Center, and Climate Action Network Zimbabwe held a successful Desertification Day commemoration event at Canyon International College school premises in Marlborough, Harare. The event featured student-led activities showcasing their knowledge of environmental topics through debates, quizzes, and impactful poetry performances.
The engagement helps to raise awareness about the growing problem of desertification and how it affects people around the world. The theme for this year’s commemoration is “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future”. It highlights the future role of land stewardship in ensuring the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world. The engagement explained that desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas and it is caused primarily by human activities and climate variations. And it is a growing threat, with up to 40% of the world’s land already degraded.
Wellington Madumira, the Coordinator of Climate Action Network Zimbabwe said that, according to the latest data from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), over 3.2 billion people globally are impacted by land degradation, with the areas most affected being sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and parts of the Middle East and South America. Factors driving desertification include unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, overgrazing, and the effects of climate change such as droughts and changing precipitation patterns.
Teverai Chigogo, the CEO of Sabino Canyon International College, highlighted that land degradation has devastating consequences i.e. it reduces the productivity of the land, destroys biodiversity, and contributes to climate change. Most alarmingly, it threatens the livelihoods and food security of over 1 billion people worldwide.
Shingai Shava, an agriculture teacher at Sabino College said that in Africa alone, desertification affects 46% of the land area and 55% of the population. Countries like Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe are experiencing severe desertification, with loss of fertile land, deforestation, and declining agricultural yields. The impacts are especially hard on rural communities who depend on the land for their livelihoods. Farmers struggle with reduced crop yields and livestock losses. Women and children often have to walk further to collect water and firewood. Poverty, hunger, and conflict increase as resources become scarce.
Shepard Zvigadza, the Coordinator of the Southern Africa Region Climate Action Network, added that the consequences of desertification are severe, including food and water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, displacement of vulnerable populations, and economic hardship.
“By restoring degraded lands and adopting sustainable land management practices, we can combat desertification and build resilience to climate change. This requires a global effort, with governments, businesses, and communities working together. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification provides a framework for action. Countries are setting Land Degradation Neutrality targets to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation. Initiatives like the Great Green Wall aim to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land in the Sahel region of Africa.,” Zvigadza said.
Speaking on the same occasion, Janiel Chifamba from Greening Kuwadzana emphasized the need for urgent, coordinated global action against desertification. Participants applauded the work that is being done in Kuwadzana by the Greening Kuwadzana team to make sure that Kuwadzana has a sustainable environment.
At the local level, communities are using traditional knowledge and innovative techniques to manage their land sustainably. Practices like agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and rainwater harvesting are improving soil health and water availability. Empowering women and youth as land stewards is also key.
Some students took part in quiz, and poems during the event. Vongayi Dena Jayden Nhapi, a student at Sabino Canyon International College bemoaned the fact that the world is being ended, plants die daily, resources are reduced, land is in shortage yet we still look for more.
“Water wastage is rampant yet we still ask for others to be wise in its usage. We tell others to be careful, tell others to think things through but we fail to do what we see as simple. We yell at the shadow on the wall and forget who’s standing in front of the light. We only have one earth, let’s preserve it for future generations,” Nhapi said.
Takudzwa Kanengoni added: “Our land, our legacy: the environment must be taken care of and if our land is in good condition, our future is bright. Let’s stand up together and preserve the environment, let’s not destroy our land.”
Ngaakudzwe Chirisa, a student at Sabino Canyon International College added that people are destroying the earth slowly and they are not realising this because of money.
“This world should be taken care of for it is Our land, and it is our future. As one we should stand up together to fight for what is right because we cannot live without this planet though this planet can live without us!!!” Chirisa said.
Julius Kadzirange, a student at Oxford Study Centre said that he learned why it’s important to introduce electric vehicles and bicycles as means of transport from the debate club. She added that she also learned about renewable and non-renewable sources of fuel and promised to venture into the renewable energy sector from that day going forward.
Michael Muzanenhamo from Oxford Study Centre applauded the celebration in that it uplifted her knowledge of how humans are contributing to desertification.
Ruvarashe Kananji from Oxford Study Centre learned methods that can be used to reduce desertification e.g. planting trees and conserving water. Mufaro Gweshe from Oxford Study Centre learned how extraction and burning of fossil fuel contribute to desertification.
Ropafadzo Nyahuye from Oxford Study Centre learned the need to ACT NOW to preserve land for future generations. Charlotte Manguwa from Oxford Study Centre learnt that lithium is abundant in Zimbabwe hence the need to mine it sustainably for the benefit of the Zimbabwean population.
Tawanda Nyadongo, a student at Sabino Canyon International College said: “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children so let us be good ancestors and leave behind a world that is greener, healthier, and more sustainable.”
