The Pangani basin in the North of Tanzania is increasingly water-stressed. Climate change is impacting regular rainfall patterns, and catchment degradation is leading to reduced water flows. Meanwhile,  water demand is increasing due to population growth and economic development. Additionally, decreasing water quality, partly due to pollution from agricultural practices, and poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions is affecting the health of riverain communities. Combined, these dynamics are reducing the resilience of riverain communities to consequences of climate change, as well as to global shocks such as COVID-19.

Partnerships for healthy catchments

NatuReS Tanzania supports partnerships in the Usa and Weruweru sub-catchments, which are part of the Kikuletwa catchment in the Pangani basin. To improve communities’ resilience towards climate change and health hazards like the current pandemic, NatuReS supports the Pangani Basin Water Board in working closely with the local government, community organizations and businesses to address the water-related challenges in the sub-catchments.

Currently, three initiatives are improving water conservation in the upper parts of the sub-catchments and increasing the efficiency of water use in the lower parts of the sub-catchments, particularly within irrigation furrow systems. By doing so, these initiatives are addressing environmental risks impacting the health of the river and of its inhabitants.

Initiatives aimed at improving resilience of ecosystems and communities

Maintaining healthy forests remains one of the most effective ways to ensure the health of catchment ecosystems. A tree-tracking app, developed in cooperation with the NGO Greenstand, supports communities willing to reforest degraded areas. Communities are trained to track the growth of the trees they are planting and receive a monetary compensation for their efforts. Additionally, the app serves as a communication channel to inform communities on preventive measures against COVID-19.

Most inhabitants of the sub-catchments are smallholder farmers. The Tanzanian civil society organization Shahidi wa Maji is conducting a WASH assessment within the DOMIKWA and MKUFI irrigation furrows in the Kikuletwa catchment to detect risk sources for deteriorating quality of water meant for human consumption. Pollution hotspots will be identified and farmers’ WASH situation – both in the furrows and at their homes – will be assessed following the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) standards. Based on the results, Shahidi wa Maji will be able to implement the necessary actions needed to improve WASH conditions both at the farms and at peoples’ homes.

Finally, Rikolto, an international NGO, is training 1,026 smallholder farmers within the Usa and Weruweru furrows on good agricultural practices, such as pesticide and fertilizer use. The aim is to improve water use efficiency and reduce water pollution within the furrows. Reducing water risks such as scarcity and pollution will turn the furrows into a healthy source of water and therefore enhance the communities’ resilience.

Together against external shocks

Water scarcity and poor WASH, as spotlighted by the current COVID-19 pandemic, are posing serious challenges to local communities in the Usa and Weruweru sub-catchments in Northern Tanzania. Enabling communities to improve their resilience to such shocks is essential. Therefore, the WASH assessment will provide guidance on how to increase the health of local populations; trainings on agricultural best practices will decrease the health risks users of the furrows are currently facing; and afforestation will contribute to better absorb climate change-induced shocks in the long-term.

Agriculture is Tanzania’s main economic driver, providing 30% of the country’s GDP and livelihood opportunities to 70% of the population living in rural areas. As a result, this sector aids the country in reducing poverty rates by providing income-generating opportunities.

However, due to the rapid increase in population size, massive portions of land are being cleared for agricultural purposes, causing an overdependence on the available natural resources required for maintaining a balanced eco-system and controlling the adequate environmental conditions required for a habitable environment.

Conserving ecosystems while providing rural communities with income opportunities

Seeing this, partners of the Sustainable Water Management (SUWAMA) partnership in the Weruweru sub catchment in Northern Tanzania worked together to bring an alternative, aimed to help communities in these rural areas broaden their livelihood opportunities in an eco-friendly manner. The idea is to conserve the ecosystem so that it continues providing the optimal conditions for sustainable agriculture whilst providing rural communities an opportunity to generate a little more income through a #pay2grow model.

Testing this idea in the Weruweru sub-catchment, each partner took up their role responsibly by sharing tasks equally amongst themselves. A study was done by the Kilimanjaro Project in collaboration with the Pangani Basin Water Board (PBWB) and the Weruweru Water Users Association (WUA) to identify the degraded riparian hotspots in the area. After the hotspots were identified, African Plantations Kilimanjaro (APK) allocated the nursery site and water to raise 21,500 seedlings, thus enabling Kijani Pamoja to nurture the seedlings appropriately. When the seedlings were ready, Dekker Chrysanten transported 1400 of them to the identified planting sites allocated in the survey. Finally, communities from each village in the wards participated in planting these seedlings on the identified hotspots with guidance from PBWB, Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and Kijani Pamoja. The remaining 20,100 will be planted towards the end of the year 2021.

These trees will be geo-tagged and closely monitored by the community through quarterly updates on the growth status. The communication will be done through a mobile application designed by Greenstand – an American NGO collaborating with Kijani Pamoja and the Kilimanjaro Project. The caretakers will take photos of these trees through the application and their existence will be justified through geo-tagging. As a reward for taking care of the trees, these caretakers will receive a small stipend from each tree. Also, educational information on the best preventative measures against COVID-19 in rural areas will be available on the application.

Seeing the successful collaboration between public and private sectors, civil society organisations and the community itself in the Weruweru sub-catchment shows that the natural resources stewardship approach in Tanzania has the potential to assist the government in meeting its set goals in the National Development Framework for the country’s socio-economic development.

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