Rethinking climate change research in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper offers a Foucauldian critique of climate change research in Zimbabwe. Indeed, climate change is arguably one of the most pressing challenges confronting this developing nation. As such, it has received considerable attention from a wide array of scholars. Certainly, very significant contributions have come from scholars who have deployed various models to establish trends in climate change as well as assess and predict its impacts particularly on agriculture. However, questions on how climate change is framed, how impacts are derived using various quantitative methods and models and even the language used in such studies have not been sufficiently debated. These questions emerge especially because of the numerous problematic dimensions that have been perpetuated in literature. Noticeable is that the conceptualisation of climate change is science driven and predominantly climate change is projected on a national scale and as a national and quantifiable phenomenon in mainstream academic and policy discourses. Similarly, understanding local level impacts using farmers’ perspectives is still not widely appreciated in the country. As such, there is no unified body of knowledge that considers discourses of local farmers in rural Zimbabwe to understand climate change and its impacts. This can be a fundamentally flawed trajectory that can perpetuate a seemingly universal and hegemonic discourse on climate change. This is neither desirable nor productive for the development of climate change knowledge as well as sustainable and inclusive adaptation policies and pathways in the country.