But, the people surveyed by Afrobarometer
did say they had noticed an increase in severe weather in recent years. Afrobarometer
said, ‘The same period has also seen a sharp decline in crop-production levels
and crop diversity due to climate variability. Maize production in the country
dropped by 67 percent between the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 planting seasons,
especially in the lowveld. Declines in crop production are major setbacks to
subsistence and commercial farmers as well as to a national economy in which
agriculture ranks second only to manufacturing.’
The results of its survey
of 1,200 adults has recently been released. About two-thirds of people said
that droughts (65 percent) and flooding (64 percent) had become ‘somewhat more
severe’ or ‘much more severe’ in their region over the past decade.
Even so, almost half (45
percent) of respondents said they had never heard of climate change.
Afrobarometer reported, ‘Among
respondents who are aware of climate change, six out of 10 (61 percent)
attribute it to human activity.’ It added, ‘More than half of citizens who are
aware of climate change believe that ordinary people can do “a little” (27
percent) or “a lot” (24 percent) to fight climate change.’
Afrobarometer did not
report that people in Swaziland were continually mislead about the nature of the
drought. The kingdom is ruled by King Mswati III who is one of the last
absolute monarchs in the world. The media in Swaziland are heavily censored
when covering the King and report his
words uncritically.
In January 2017,
King Mswati told his subjects that the drought was a test from God. He said that
it
was only because people believed in the Christian God that rain had recently
fallen in Swaziland.
The drought had crippled Swaziland and according to
statistics from United Nations Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF) at the time about
350,000 of Swaziland’s 1.2 million population were affected by drought and of
these 189,000 were children. UNICEF stated 308,059 people were ‘food insecure’
and 8,460 children aged under 59 months suffered ‘acute malnutrition’.
Despite the King’s lavish personal spending, including
putting down a deposit of US$7.3m for a private
jet plane, Swaziland was unable to fund drought relief.
In February 2016, the Swazi Government declared
a national emergency and called on international agencies to donate
E248 million (US$16 million) over the coming two months. In total,
government would need about E2 billion to address the situation over five
years, it
was reported.
The national emergency was declared only weeks after
King Mswati III told his subjects the drought in his kingdom was over. He had
this when his regiments took part in the Incwala ceremony. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in
effect owned by the King, reported on 1 January 2016 that the King had ‘pronounced
an end to the drought situation’.
It reported, ‘The King said the drought situation
changed as soon as the water party (bemanti) was commissioned to fetch water in
the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.
The newspaper added, ‘As he pronounced an end to the
drought situation, the King predicted a bumper harvest and urged all Swazis to
go and work hard in their fields.’
Scientists agree that the drought in Swaziland and
across southern Africa is the effect of El Niño, a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather
patterns.
The Sunday Observer, (29 January 2017) a
companion to the Swazi Observer,
reported, ‘His Majesty said he was proud because it turned out that Swazis
really believed in God as they were now experiencing tremendous amounts of
rain.’
The newspaper said the King told ‘thousands of
Christians’ assembled at the Mandvulo Grand Hall, ‘God tests your faith as a
Christian by setting challenges and it is through these that as a Christian you
must really pray and trust in Him to come through for you, because He is a
faithful God.’
See also
Drought: People Died of Hunger
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