Farai Shawn Matiashe, Thomson Reuters Foundation

CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe, Jan 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Albert Sabawe, 25, is waiting to eat lunch, resting against the wall of his flimsy wooden home in a small village in eastern Zimbabwe’s Chimanimani district.

The father of one moved into this shack by the river when he got married in 2018, after his parents bought the land from local authorities in 2010.

Jobless Sabawe could not afford to build a house of brick and cement, as is common in Zimbabwe.

But when powerful Cyclone Idai hit last March, ripping off part of the roof, luck spared his family.

The storm killed more than 300 people, displaced about 60,000 and destroyed 50,000 homes in the southern African nation.

It caused damage worth $622 million, mainly in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts, according to the government.

Sabawe’s home survived, but located less than 10 metres (33 ft) from the Nyamatanda River, whose channel was widened by the 2019 storm, it remains vulnerable to flooding this rainy season.

“We are living so close to the river. I would not want another cyclone to strike again while I am still here,” Sabawe said.

If offered the chance to relocate under a planned government programme, he would be willing to do so as long as the area had enough farmland to sustain his family, he said.

Chimanimani has so far received average rainfall this rainy season, which runs through April.

But the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has predicted heavy rains nationwide in the coming weeks, and other places have already experienced flash floods, damaging homes and crops.

According to Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Unit (CPU), many houses made of cheap materials near rivers were wiped away by Cyclone Idai, while those still standing remain at risk of flooding.

CPU director Nathan Nkomo said both rural and urban settlements and infrastructure should adhere to planning regulations and minimum standards to reduce the risk of disasters.

Edward Antonio, a lecturer in the civil engineering department at Mutare Polytechnic, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation it was high time local authorities designed buildings with climate change in mind.

Many Africa-based engineers had yet to grasp the reality of climate change or that most designs from the early 1970s were no longer robust enough, he said, while building codes were not being updated in line with disaster threats.

“Proper planning and siting of infrastructure is lacking (and) construction materials and standards being used are cheap and of poor quality,” he warned.

Antonio said key factors in determining risk were not the distance of a building from a river but river capacity, soil type, size of the water catchment area and intensity of rainfall.

Cyclone Idai brought heavy downpours to Chimanimani and Chipinge, resulting in huge surface runoff that caused flooding as the soil was saturated and rivers overflowed, he explained.

NEW LANDSLIDE THREAT

Julius Sibanda, a Mutare-based engineer, said altering building designs could face resistance from most Zimbabweans as it could hike costs at a time of economic crisis.

“Of course we can change, but it becomes unaffordable to most citizens,” he said, calling for rules to prohibit human settlement in flood-risk areas.

In past decades, Zimbabwe has not often experienced landslides during storms. But last year, landslides in Chimanimani and Chipinge left devastation.

The CPU, based on weather forecasts, had advised people to move to higher ground to keep them safe from flooding - but doing so put them at risk of landslides.

Terence Mushore, a climate scientist and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, said one lesson from Cyclone Idai was that an extreme event with a very low probability can happen.

“Landslides were beyond the expectation of anyone,” he added.

In mountainous Chimanimani, people were mainly worried about floods in low-lying areas but had not anticipated danger on higher ground, he explained.

The CPU’s Nkomo said Zimbabwe’s early warning equipment and systems for weather and climate hazards were grossly inadequate.

There was an urgent need to revamp them and procure radar systems to track rainfall volume and intensity, he added.

In the 2020 national budget plan, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube proposed allocating 165 million Zimbabwean dollars (about $7 million) to purchase weather radar equipment.

Marian Chombo, deputy minister for local government, said people living along river channels and on dangerous slopes would be considered for relocation after a consultation process which was still underway.

The government has still to resettle about 200 cyclone-affected people living in tents in Chimanimani, suggesting the process will take longer for those who have houses. Chombo said there was a need to construct climate-resilient infrastructure, and housing designs and building materials would be revised.

But until that happens, the CPU said it fears that cheaply built houses located by rivers, like Sabawe's, are a disaster waiting to happen. (Reporting by Farai Shawn Matiashe; editing by Megan Rowling)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations released $100 million on Friday for humanitarian emergencies in 10 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean.

Acting U.N. humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya said a lack of funding in these countries is preventing aid agencies from providing life-saving assistance, “and that is heart-wrenching.”

More than one-third of the new funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund known as CERF will go to Yemen, where a civil war is now in its 10th year, and Ethiopia, where government forces are fighting several rebel groups in its regions as well as ethnic-related insurgencies. Yemen is getting $20 million and Ethiopia $15 million.

Humanitarian operations in countries engulfed in years of conflict and displacement, exacerbated by climate shocks will also be getting funds: Myanmar ($12 million), Mali ($11 million), Burkina Faso ($10 million), Haiti ($9 million), Cameroon ($7 million) and Mozambique ($7 million).

So will two countries suffering severe food insecurity from an El Niño-induced drought and flooding, Burundi ($5 million) and Malawi ($4 million).

This was CERF’s second release of $100 million in emergency funding for humanitarian emergencies this year. In February, that money went to Chad, Congo, Honduras, Lebanon, Niger, Sudan and Syria.

But the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, which manages CERF, said the $200 million released this year is the lowest amount in the last three years, “underscoring the growing gap between humanitarian needs and the donor funding CERF receives to meet them.”

This year, the humanitarian community appealed for $49 billion to reach 187 million people in crises worldwide but has received just 29%, leaving a $35 billion gap, OCHA said.

In addition to releasing funds to the 10 countries on Friday, the U.N. and its partners have launched emergency appeals to reach 14.5 million people in southern Africa affected by El Niño: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) — About 68 million people in Southern Africa are suffering the effects of an El Nino-induced drought that has wiped out crops across the region, the regional bloc SADC said Saturday.

The drought, which started in early 2024, has hit crop and livestock production, causing food shortages and damaging the wider economies.

Heads of state from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) were meeting in Zimbabwe's capital Harare to discuss regional issues including food security.

Some 68 million people, or 17% of the region's population, need aid, said Elias Magosi, SADC executive secretary.

"The 2024 rainy season has been a challenging one with most parts of the region experiencing negative effects of the El Nino phenomenon characterized by the late onset of rains," he said.

It is Southern Africa's worst drought in years, owing to a combination of naturally occurring El Nino — when an abnormal warming of the waters in the eastern Pacific changes world weather patterns — and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions.

Countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi have already declared the hunger crisis a state of disaster, while Lesotho and Namibia have called for humanitarian support.

The region launched an appeal in May for $5.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to support the drought response, but donations have not been forthcoming, said outgoing SADC chair Joao Lourenco, the president of Angola.

"The amount mobilized so far is unfortunately below the estimated amounts and I would like to reiterate this appeal to regional and international partners to redouble their efforts... to help our people who have been affected by El Nino," he told the summit.

The drought is a major talking point at this year's summit, alongside issues such as the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which Lourenco said was a source of great concern.

Argentina won their first major title in 28 years on Saturday and Lionel Messi finally won his first medal in a blue-and-white shirt when an Angel Di Maria goal gave them a 1-0 win over Brazil and a record-equaling 15th Copa America.

Di Maria, starting for just the second time in the Copa, justified his selection by scoring the opener midway through the first half.

Renan Lodi failed to cut out a long ball forward from Rodrigo De Paul and Di Maria lobbed the stranded Ederson with aplomb.

Brazil piled on the pressure in an exciting second half but even with five strikers on the field they could not get an equalizer against an Argentine defense protected by the outstanding Rodrigo De Paul.

"First, we have to congratulate our opponents especially for the first half when they neutralized us,” Brazilian defender Thiago Silva said.

“In the second half, there was no contest -- only one team tried to play football, the other just wasted time as we knew they would. It’s not an excuse, we didn’t do what we had to, principally in the first half.”

Argentina’s win was a particular triumph for Barcelona striker Messi, who picked up his first-ever title in a blue-and-white shirt after more than a decade of club and individual honors.

The Argentine players surrounded their captain at the final whistle. Goalkeeper Emilian Martinez celebrated what he called a Maracanazo, a remarkable win at the famous Rio stadium.

"I'm speechless," he said. "I knew my dream would come true, and where better than the Maracanazo and giving the title to the best in the world and fulfilling his dream."

Messi finished the tournament’s joint top goal scorer with four goals and was elected joint best player along with Neymar.

But he was quiet throughout the game at the Maracana stadium and uncharacteristically missed a golden opportunity to wrap the game up with 2 minutes remaining.

When the final whistle went, Argentina TV declared “Argentina Champions, Lionel Messi Champion!”

The match itself was a disappointing one, with Argentina the better side in a cagey first half that featured 21 fouls.

However, Brazil came out more aggressively in the second period and as the time ticked on, they threw more people forward -- and at one point having five recognized strikers on the field.

Richarlison had a goal chalked off for offside 7 minutes into the second half and then forced Emiliano Martinez into a good stop 2 minutes later.

But as Brazil poured forward gaps opened up and Argentina missed two clear chances to score in the dying moments of the match.

The victory was Argentina’s 15th Copa America triumph and means they draw level with Uruguay as the all-time leading winners.

"This is a very big title," Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said. "I hope that Argentines can enjoy it. The fans love the team unconditionally and I think they identify with this side that never drops its guard."

Their win extended their sequence of undefeated matches to 20 under Scaloni and handed Brazil their first competitive defeat since they lost to Belgium in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup.