Why did the Zimbabwean government announce changes to the country’s agro-ecological boundaries in 2020?
On September 15 2020, the Zimbabwe government announced changes to the country’s agro-ecological boundaries, which had been in place since the 1960s.
Agro-ecological zones are identified based on the “distribution of soil, land surface and climate”, says the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
The “urgent need [to align] agricultural practice with the changing climatic patterns” necessitated the redrawing of the agro-ecological zones, according to a cabinet statement.
Among the changes is that the zone that borders Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique can no longer sustain any form of rain-fed agriculture without being complemented with irrigation.
More: FACTSHEET: Climate change redraws Zimbabwe’s agro-ecological map
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