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The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa pp 155–181Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Placing Climate Change in Wetland Conservation and Urban Agriculture Contestations in Harare, Zimbabwe

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Abstract

This chapter qualitatively interrogates the impact of urban agriculture on urban wetland conservation in Harare, Zimbabwe, with reference to Monavale wetland. Specifically, the chapter unearths the role of wetlands in sustainable urban agriculture and further evaluates the challenges posed by urban agriculture on wetland conservation in a changing climate. Using in-depth interviews, key informants interviews, observation and secondary data sources, findings indicate that climate change has influenced urbanization in Zimbabwe. Rural–urban migration, catapulted by climate change, has culminated in the shrinkage of Monavale wetland area. Arising from this are serious contestations in the regulation of urban agriculture. The question on what takes precedence between conserving wetlands and sustaining livelihoods through the exploitation of wetlands occupies the epicentre of efforts to regulate urban agriculture.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Luckymore Matenga

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  1. Luckymore Matenga
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

  2. Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia

    Patrick Brandful Cobbinah

  3. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Michael Addaney

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Matenga, L. (2019). Placing Climate Change in Wetland Conservation and Urban Agriculture Contestations in Harare, Zimbabwe. In: Cobbinah, P.B., Addaney, M. (eds) The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04873-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04873-0_6

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04873-0

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