Name: Raymond Chimokaza
Age: 18
Sex: Male
School: Ezondweni Community Day Secondary School
Tell us a little about your environment and community
The community of Ezondweni has a population of 5000 people. The area is comprised of hills, anthills, streams and many indigenous trees. Most people in the area are farmers. they cultivate crops such as tobacco, maize, ground nuts, millet, soya and beans. The main income is selling this produce.
How has your community been affected by changes in the environment or climate?
Much longer dry spells have resulted in famine, shortage of water and dry bore holes.
What are the knock on effects of these changes for:
- You and your family
My performance in school has gone down because I go to school without taking breakfast so my concentration fails. My family is unhappy because most of the time they are searching for work, to gain money to buy food and other basic needs.
- Your community
Most of the community are affected by failing harvests which leads to a lack of food. The shorter the wet season, the less food our community has.
What are the main risks which you think climate change / local environmental change poses to your life?
The main risks are shortage of water, lack of crop cultivation, lack of grass for grazing livestock, malnutrition diseases due to shortage of food.
Describe any steps that you or your school have taken to reduce these risks or describe one way that you and your community could be better equipped to adapt to the consequences of climate change
The school has educated people about malnutrition and disease and has encouraged the community to grow different crops such as vegetables and fruit. The community is trying to build dams to effectively harvest the rainfall, and also plant trees along the river banks to protect against the drying up of the streams during the hot season. We are also trying to preserve more food by drying it out for consumption later in the year when stocks are low.