Climate-Smart Families

In a village outside Gwanda, Sipho Mlambo planted his maize three times in one season. The first planting died in a five-week dry spell. A storm washed the second away. The third wilted in the heat before the cobs could fill. At church, Sipho sat with his head in his hands until an older woman sat beside him: “We cannot control the weather. But we can prepare our families. Faith is not only waiting for rain. Faith is also digging the pit to catch it.”

Across Africa, families are living with later rains, longer dry spells, hotter days, stronger storms and floods. The people who suffer most are often those who contributed least: smallholder families, the poor, women, children and the elderly.

Written by an agronomist with more than twenty years in Zimbabwe’s agricultural research sector, who also holds an MSc in Strategic Management and serves as a church elder and family life leader, this book brings together science, strategy and Scripture. It takes the knowledge that too often stays in research stations and puts it in the hands of the families who need it most.

Inside you will find:

•       How to read the signs of the seasons, using forecasts alongside indigenous knowledge, and make a Family Resilience Plan

•       Practical water wisdom: saving every drop at home and harvesting the rain

•       Small grains, drought-tolerant crops, dry-season gardens and keeping livestock through the drought

•       Protecting family health from heat and waterborne disease, feeding the family in lean seasons, and caring for worry, weariness and children’s fears

•       Diversifying income, saving for the dry years, insurance and early action, and keeping the family together when someone must leave

•       How the church can become a resilience hub, with Joseph’s granary, healing the land together and speaking up for the common good

Each chapter follows the Mlambo family and Mrs Ndlovu, a retired agricultural meteorologist, and includes a common myth, what Scripture says, a practical resilience tool, discussion questions, a family exercise and a prayer. Read one chapter a week as a family or church group, with photocopiable templates in the appendices.

The climate is changing. God is not. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22). Our task is to be faithful stewards in the seasons we are given.

Perfect for: Rural and peri-urban families facing drought, heat and floods, urban families hit by water shortages and rising food prices, church and community leaders, teachers and extension workers, and young people who want to understand climate change and act.