The soil will be depleted, and deforestation means flash floods and landslides will occur. (Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
His the ancestor farmed downhill, but three generations later, after a drought and multiple crop failures, Gibson Mudarikwa broke the tradition. He and his family climbed a nearby mountain, cut down beautiful trees, and turned the top into a cornfield.
Houses are still falling, in Bocha district, about 200km east of the capital Harare. Mudarikwa is not alone. His neighbour, Ashton Mujenya, said repeated heavy rains had destroyed the fertile soil in his old fields, “leaving only sand”. And with the cost of fertilizer rising, hilltops come with the bonus of fertile soil. So he moved up the mountain and things have changed: “Last season, I harvested three tons of corn from the top.”
The government says farmers are moving to the mountains and hills to escape drought, floods, unpredictable seasons and all other effects of climate change.
Kudzai Ndidzano, deputy director at the environment and climate ministry’s climate change management unit, said traditional agricultural land was “depleted” and the soil lacked water. Hilltops have better soil because they have not been farmed, and the decaying organic matter over the years has created healthy soil.
The local agriculture ministry says 1,200 farmers have started planting in the hills in the past decade. And that creates a new set of problems.
Johnson Masaka, of Midlands State University, said mountain tops are sponges. It then slowly releases water into the streams that feed the lowlands. Damage to this ecosystem means less water flowing down and, when it rains, the danger of flooding increases because there are no trees and plants to slow the flow of water.
Jason Murevi, a geography school teacher in the area, said that this also means mudslides, which “will wash away everything, along with the houses”.
Railton Masango, an agricultural extension officer with the provincial ministry of agriculture, is also concerned.
“The villagers who farm on the hilltop are happy that they enjoy the fertile soil, but it could be worse,” he said. “With each farming season, the soil cover will erode, exposing and moving rocks on the hilltops that will one day destroy houses, people and livestock.”
Masango added that thoughtful villagers have found ways around the risk of drought learning the hard way that the solution is only temporary.
With no soil, the hilltops would become as unproductive as they had left them.
Ndidzano agreed, reiterating the country’s position that people should stay for “sustainable areas” for farming. “They need to use other climate change adaptation measures to ensure productivity remains.”
But poor governance and a broken economy meant the country did not support the move.
“Farmers in this province have no choice,” said Masango. “To escape, they must move to any point on the top of the hill where they can access fertile land to continue farming.”
And that means farmers can feed their families – now.
This article first appeared on Continenta pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with Mail & Guardians. It is designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Your download free copy here.