Page 109 - IJPS-10-4

International Journal of
Population Studies Climate change-induced human mobility

2.1. The research site family are Garwe or Ngwena (crocodile), Bonga or Mvuu

This study was conducted in Chimanimani District, (hippo), and Mheta (water python). These totems are also
located in the southeastern highlands of Manicaland, found among the Ndau people, supporting the notion that
Zimbabwe. The region is predominantly inhabited by the the Ndau are indeed Bantu in origin.
Ndau people, an indigenous group. As an Afrocentric The Ndau people, like other African groups, are highly
study, the researchers utilized historicity and culture to religious people who believe in God, popularly known as
understand how the Ndau people perceive and adapt to Mwari, the supreme being (Mapuranga, 2010). The Ndau
the impacts of climate change in Zimbabwe. Through the people perceived religion as their way of creating and
utilization of the Afrocentric tenets, one can understand maintaining their relationship with their God through
the people, language, cosmologies, kinship system, cultural their ancestors (Mtapuri & Mazengwa, 2013). As a form of
practices, and religion. “Location, as a core element of worship, the Ndau people perform ceremonies to appease
the Afrocentric functional paradigm, serves as a pivotal the ancestral and territorial spirits. The Ndau people and
research tenet, providing a foundation for examining the other Zimbabwean indigenous people believe that the spirits
cultural, philosophical, and historical aspects of human have a great influence on their well-being. They believe that
expression, collectively understood as culture (Monteiro- the dead are in a state of consciousness, such that they can
Ferreira, 2010, p. 44).” intervene in human affairs. It is believed that the ancestors
The researcher traces the history of the Ndau people from can influence a lot of things in people’s lives, ranging from
their original settlement to the present. By highlighting and fertility, rain, good health, and protection from physical
describing who they are as people, their language, cosmic and mystical danger to curing illness. The Ndau people
beliefs, kinship system, cultural practices, and religion, believed serious misfortunes, such as prolonged sickness,
the study distinguishes the Ndau as a unique indigenous death, lack of rain, or persistent ravaging of fields by wild
group within the larger Shona community. Although the animals, demanded extraordinary solutions, even when
Shona people are also indigenous, the Ndau have been the cause of death or sickness was because of external
marginalized and often viewed as part of the broader influences. The Ndau would consult spirit mediums when
Shona group. To understand their experiences of climate a bad misfortune had happened. They would perform the
change accurately, it is essential to consider their distinct ritual ceremonies to appease these spirits.
perspectives. The Chimanimani area is also inhabited by The Ndau indigenous cultural beliefs, practices, and
other people who do not belong to the Ndau-speaking knowledge systems can be a solution to climatic problems
clan; this is due to resettlement programs, employment, related to climate change. The Ndau respect the water bodies
and marriage issues that influence internal migration in and forest resources as they believe that they are sacred
the region. This study will not include individuals from places inhabited by spiritual forces. Taringa (2006) believed
other ethnic groups, as they are not Ndau natives. Instead, that the respect instigated by the indigenous African religion
the focus will be on the indigenous Ndau people of the toward the water bodies and forest resources is due to the
district, most of whom reside in rural areas. fear of the wrath of ancestral spirits, who are the custodians
The origins of the Ndau people are complex and of the environment. The Ndau people view climate change
lack a singular explanation, as current genealogies were through a religious sociocultural and religious perspective.
documented by anthropologists and historians who are not Taringa (2006) notes that for the Ndau people, behind the
Ndau descendants (Hlatshwayo, 2017). The history and the physical environment lie some ancestral and territorial
genealogy of the Ndau can be traced back to the Bantu- spirits that govern how humanity deals with fauna and
speaking people of West Africa, approximately 4000 years flora. It is through the Afrocentric perspective that this
ago. This implies that the Ndau have not always been in study will be able to understand the changing climate and
Chimanimani. Instead, like other tribes of Southern its impact on health and adaptation practices. It is through
Africa, they migrated as Bantu people from West Africa. the Afrocentric historicity and cultural lenses that this study
The Ndau are related to Hungwe and Rozvi groups that investigated the influence of climate-induced disasters on
invaded pre-colonial Zimbabwe. The Hungwe were the Ndau people’s mobility decisions.
earliest Bantu people to settle in the current Zimbabwe, Geographically, Chimanimani district (where the
arriving around 700 – 800 AD. The Hungwe lineage is Ndau people are located), as shown in Figure 1, is one
identified by the totems named after the birds and aquatic of the regions that receive rainfall of up to 1400 mm per
animals. The association with water was an attribution to year (Chingombe & Musarandega, 2021), and most of the
their greatest ancestor, Dzivaguru, which means the great specialized crops are grown in this place. The farmers in
pool. Other totems from the members of the Hungwe the area grow crops such as potatoes, bananas, mangoes,

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2024) 103 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2983