Zimbabwe's Preparedness in Managing Meteorological Disasters: A Case of Applying Disaster Risk Management in Managing Impacts of Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change adaptation and building resilience among vulnerable communities can leverage on adoption of broader principles of Disaster Risk Management. In recent years many developing countries have seen an increasing push to merge Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approaches into a single framework because many of the tools developed by the disaster risk management (DRM) community, such as risk identification and preparedness are important to climate resilient development. The study sought to establish Zimbabwe's preparedness in managing meteorological disasters; mitigating climate change impacts using disaster risk management strategies; and to provide recommendations to help improve disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities in Masvingo province and proffer some disaster risk reduction remedies. The impact of the hybrid approach has far reaching positive results in dealing with climate change challenges in the country and beyond. One innovation adopted in this study is the use of an Android App to provide early warnings and other remedies after a disaster has struck. Given the wide use of Information technology products in Zimbabwe, minimum use of this App in managing climate change related disasters has potential to be effective especially for urban to peri-urban communities. The study established that the government is to a great extend prepared to manage disasters though more has to be done by availing more resources to avert impacts of disasters. Very little has been done to equip communities in terms of training and information dissemination especially in rural areas. The application developed was well received by communities and have great potential to inform vulnerable communities in preparation against disasters.