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Decadal spatio-temporal dynamics of drought in semi-arid farming regions of Zimbabwe between 1990 and 2020: a case of Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts

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Abstract

Drought severity and frequency are increasing in tropical regions and its occurrence is not uniform in space and time. The study assessed the spatio-temporal dynamics of agrometeorological drought in Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts between 1990 and 2020. An empirical research design was adopted in this study. GIS and remote sensing techniques were used to determine and analyze agricultural drought conditions and the standardized precipitation generator was used to compute SPI for meteorological drought monitoring and analysis. Microsoft Excel 2011 was adopted for the analysis of drought coverage and performing the Mann–Kendall trend test for precipitation trend analysis. Results indicated that the area covered by drought declined between the 1990 and 2000 and 2001–2010 decades before increasing during the 2011–2020 decade. Results indicated significant spatial dynamics of drought severity and frequency in Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts and the majority of wards experienced increased frequency of severe droughts during the 2011–2020 decade. It was highlighted that meteorological drought was not evenly distributed across all decades. Dry conditions in the first months (October and November) of the rainy season have been indicated during the 1990–2000 decade, followed by wetter conditions during the 2001–2010 decade and comparatively drier conditions in the same months during the 2011–2020 decade. This indicated the late onset of the rainfall season during the 1990–2000 and 2011–2020 decades compared to the 2001–2010 decade. It was also shown that rainfall cessation was earlier during the 2001–2010 and 2011–2020 decades and late during the 1990–2000 decade. The study concludes that drought has increased both in severity and frequency in Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts; hence, there is a need for more support to drought resilience-building initiatives in these areas. The government of Zimbabwe is advised to set up climate research centers in all provinces of the country to improve the availability of climate change–related data which is useful when addressing the impacts of climate change.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Building, Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe

    Oshneck Mupepi & Mark Makomborero Matsa

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  1. Oshneck Mupepi
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  2. Mark Makomborero Matsa
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Contributions

Oshneck Mupepi was responsible for coming up with the idea, doing data compilation and analysis under supervision of Prof Mark Makomborero Matsa. Oshneck Mupepi developed the final draft and proof reading, and further adjustments were done by mark Makomborero Matsa.

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Correspondence to Oshneck Mupepi.

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Approval was granted by the Midlands State University to carry out the research as well as to publish under its name. All sources were properly cited to avoid plagiarism.

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Mupepi, O., Matsa, M.M. Decadal spatio-temporal dynamics of drought in semi-arid farming regions of Zimbabwe between 1990 and 2020: a case of Mberengwa and Zvishavane districts. Theor Appl Climatol 151, 1283–1299 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04327-7

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