The policy thrust of disaster risk reduction initiatives is in many instances tailored towards able-bodied people. This is at the expense of those challenged in many facets such as physically, mentally and other forms of disability. The suggestion for disability to be mainstreamed into disaster risk reduction initiatives has been made imperative by the late shift in hazard and disaster thinking at local, national and international levels. The increasing intensity and frequency of weather-related hazards and disasters, driven by climate change, has provided fertile ground on which mainstreaming ideas and policies have proved to be incongruent. This research paper focuses on two key topics in the disaster science field: pre-disaster risk reduction planning and post-disaster emergency response activities. It is based on experiences from disaster risk reduction projects in Bulilima and Mangwe districts in southern Zimbabwe between 2006 and 2014. A qualitative research methodology was employed, and data were collected using in-depth personal interviews, observations and focus group discussions. Both able-bodied people and people living with disabilities (PWDs) were part of the study. Main findings show that PWDs were not included in the formulation of disaster risk reduction measures. Other important findings were the variable nature of how people define or view disability, and even believe that disability has a purpose. Most of the so-called normal people lack the understanding of what constitutes a disaster to such an extent that even disability is regarded as a disaster. The paper unravels the need to have a relook that would bring PWDs into the centre of civil protection decision-making and policy formulation in Zimbabwe. Keywords: disability; disaster risk reduction; disaster; vulnerability; Zimbabwe.

This article is based on an evaluation concerning the practice of the Zunde raMambo concept (commonly referred to as Zunde) in four of Zimbabwe’s 52 districts; (Mangwe, Lupane, Guruve and Hwedza). Zunde is a social security system providing protection against food shortages to vulnerable families and is coordinated by chiefs. The Zunde concept identifies with Ndebele and Shona rural communities in Zimbabwe. Thus, this evaluation sought to determine the relevance and fulfilment of the Zunde project objectives, namely: efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. The revived Zunde practice extends a long way in reducing food insecurity in vulnerable communities. Although the concept may be as old as the Zimbabwean culture, it had been abandoned as communities became urbanised. The Chief’s Council of Zimbabwe, in collaboration with the Nutrition Unit of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare have rekindled it. However, to revive this indigenous knowledge practice, there is need to assess the nature of existing social and economic structures, leadership, gender roles and the availability of resources such as land, inputs and implements. This article, which is based on both qualitative and quantitative data, collected between September 2013 and March 2014, goes on to reflect on policy issues surrounding disaster risk reduction (DRR) and survival strategies used by vulnerable communities in rural areas of Zimbabwe. It recommends that the gender factor approach offers the best means possible to understand peoples’ needs and challenges as well as how these can be satisfied and resolved respectively.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing food insecurity for many centuries. This study sought to explore and learn from Zimbabwe’s past and current food security (FS) efforts and challenges, through three historical periods, namely the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial, from about 1430 to 2020. The year 1430 marks the establishment of the Monomotapa state, one of the starting points for Zimbabwe’s own national reconstruction. Adopting a qualitative paradigm, data were obtained using document review and interviewing 85 purposively selected key informants, some of whom were found using snowballing. The study found that the adopted FS strategies during the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial periods were dynamic and mainly derived by new political agendas and crises. The food production and storage aspects of the colonial period were built around agricultural extension services and Grain Marketing Board strategies. The postcolonial period FS initiatives pivoted on humanitarian and development programs. Zimbabwe’s FS initiatives across the three historical periods remain susceptible to various challenges (droughts, political antagonism, bureaucracy, partisanship, corruption, incapacitation and weak support systems). As such, Zimbabwe’s food insecurity levels remain far away from being a reality, unless the identified challenges are taken head-on by all stakeholders. Therefore, the study recommends that informed local wisdom be given space in finding a lasting solution to food insecurity. Meanwhile, multistakeholder inclusivity, knowledge development and management should be made the crux of FS-related initiatives. This could foster new partnerships and encourage the ethic of working together and participation towards ensuring FS.

An extreme drought event occurred in the Western Cape when the mean level of water supply dams declined to 28% of capacity in August 2017 (Odendaal 2019). Our survey of 240 households and 71 businesses identified neighbourhood variations in response to the drought and to local government restrictions in water usage, and in the methods of adaptation that were implemented to mitigate the impact of the disaster. Whereas water consumption declined dramatically in comparison with drought responses in other contexts (Shaw et al. in Am Water