Musarandega Happwell, Chingombe Wisemen, Pillay Rajendran
Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Jamba. 2018 Sep 25;10(1):651. doi: 10.4102/jamba.v10i1.651. eCollection 2018.
While the devastating vagaries of climate change are ravaging communities the world over, especially in Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular, the role of traditional authorities is being overlooked. This paper argues for a relentless push towards the unimpeded involvement of local traditional authorities (LTAs) in the mobilisation of rural communities to adopt appropriate climate change adaptation practices in Zimbabwe. Given its complexity and uniqueness, external intervention through government and non-governmental agents alone can hardly foster climate change adaptation particularly at local levels within communities. Traditional leaders, who have for a long time been useful in the governance of people in various rural communities, can play a supportive role in climate change adaptation. Traditional leaders do not only serve as governance authorities but also know the traditional strategies of combating the negative effects of climate change. Despite the pressure from political interference and the advent of western technological advancement, a lot could still be done to buttress the authority and respect vested in chiefs, headsmen and village heads in the country. LTAs have the power to manage grassroots communities; hence they can be utilised as drivers in the use of traditional climate change adaptation strategies. The paper concludes that political interference is one challenge faced by abusing traditional leadership as a means to gain political mileage. The paper recommends for extended capacity building on the part of traditional leaders to improve their knowledge base. This will enable them to appreciate the integration of indigenous and modern climate change adaptation strategies. It further recommends the revitalisation of the traditional council (Dare raMambo) to deal with environmental offenses with the scope of assisting government efforts to ensure sound ecological practices within communities.
尽管气候变化带来的毁灭性变幻无常正在肆虐全球各地的社区，尤其是在非洲，特别是津巴布韦，但传统当局的作用却被忽视了。本文主张坚持不懈地推动当地传统当局（LTAs）不受阻碍地参与动员津巴布韦农村社区采用适当的气候变化适应措施。鉴于其复杂性和独特性，仅靠政府和非政府机构的外部干预很难促进气候变化适应，特别是在社区内部的地方层面。长期以来在各个农村社区治理民众方面发挥作用的传统领袖，可以在气候变化适应中发挥支持作用。传统领袖不仅是治理当局，而且了解应对气候变化负面影响的传统策略。尽管受到政治干预的压力以及西方技术进步的出现，但仍有很多工作可以做，以加强赋予该国酋长、村长和村头的权威和尊重。地方传统当局有权管理基层社区；因此，它们可以被用作采用传统气候变化适应策略的推动者。本文的结论是，滥用传统领导作为获取政治利益的手段是面临的一个挑战。本文建议为传统领袖提供更多能力建设，以提高他们的知识基础。这将使他们能够认识到本土和现代气候变化适应策略的整合。它还建议振兴传统理事会（Dare raMambo），以处理环境违法行为，协助政府努力确保社区内良好的生态实践。
