The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Lucas Liganga
26 November 2011
Dar es Salaam — Ten farmers, hunters and pastoralists from around the country gathered in the conference hall of the United Nations in Dar es Salaam last week to share experiences with and concerns about a changing climate and how it is and will continue to impact their daily lives.
The stakeholders from Manyara, Shinyanga, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Kigoma and Dar es Salaam regions gave their climate change accounts ahead of the two-week UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) talks that start on Monday in the Indian Ocean coastal city of Durban in South Africa.
The event was jointly organized by the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF) and the Tanzanian Civil Society Forum on Climate Change (ForumCC) and supported by the British government.
The organizers observed that although climate change and its impacts are being identified and documented at the global level, yet in poorer countries such as Tanzania, there has yet to be substantive documentation of the impacts that climate change is having and will continue to have, especially to those who are most affected — the poor in rural areas.
They said in a joint statement that climate change and its impacts are very real in Tanzania and serves to reinforce and influence the cycle of poverty if not properly identified and addressed.
“With the majority of people living in rural areas, the immediate effects of climate change are already being felt by Tanzanians,” they said, adding: “Specifically, research points out that in Tanzania, climate change will adversely affect food production, energy and water supplies, which are preconditions for the physical well-being if not survival of rural households, which are the clear majority of the country’s population.”
They said hearing the voices and stories of those most affected by climate change are essential for effective development and implementation of national climate change policies and adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Such strategies need to be informed by the voices of those that are bearing the results of a changing climate. Yet, these individuals are arguably, far removed from the national and global debates on climate change and their voices remain relatively unheard.
Known officially as the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference takes place in the coastal city of Durban.
In their climate change testimonies, speaker after speaker made accounts of the impact of climate change on their livelihoods.Leboi Ole Ngoira, a Maasai pastoralist from Terrat village in Simanjiro District in Manyara Region, recalled his childhood years in the 1980s as having a lot of rain. However, in 2009, Leboi witnessed the worst drought he can remember, as he did not recollect any rain at all that year.
He said many Maasai from Kenya entered Tanzania in search of water, which caused some conflicts and even migration of Maasai to cities like Dar es Salaam and Arusha to seek work.He said the drought of 2009 made Leboi think of ways in which the government can help the Maasai community. For example, the government could provide small loans to buy livestock when they die from drought, which could be paid back after breeding, said the pastoralist.
Avelina Elias Mkenda, a 52-year-old farmer in Rombo District in Kilimanjaro Region, said she felt that climate change has directly impacted the productivity of her coffee farming. She said she felt that there have been changing rainfall patterns, and more intensive sun, both of which are unfavourable for growing coffee.
“These changes have led to an increase in coffee diseases affecting production of the crop,” said Avelina. She also spoke about the difficulties she has faced in the past few years in getting enough grass for her livestock due to the lack of rains. For example, she said, this year she measured the height of the grass and she could see that it is significantly shorter than would normally be if it had rained as is expected, adding that the result was that she has to travel longer distances to get grass and fodder to feed her livestock.
Mohamed Nassor Salim, a native of northern Pemba, said he has lived in Pemba his entire life and described the island as being inhabited by smallholder farmers who rely almost entirely on fish as their main source of food. However, Salim said he has observed changes in the climate and environment in Pemba during his 43 years of living there.
He said he is now alarmed by the increasing water levels on the island, recalling his youth when the sea would not extend inland as much as it does now.
“Now, I see fewer coconuts on the ground, because they have been eroded or washed away by the increasing water levels on the island,” said Salim.He even described the horror of seeing dead bodies floating from old burial grounds that are now being swallowed by rising sea water levels. In addition to this, he said, farmers are affected as the increasing water levels means that more areas are becoming increasingly salty and less arable.
Khadija Ramadhani Ali, a native of Ugunja in Zanzibar, said rains are no longer predictable, and it feels hotter than before due to the lack of rains.
“This has negatively affected crop production and has increased the presence of diseases in crops,” she said. Ms Ali said as a result people were now going into the forests and cutting trees to sell wood to supplement their reduced incomes from their crops.
“This increased deforestation has led to less biodiverse forests, with fewer animals and food. All of these changes have directly impacted the economy of Unguja,” she said.
Endeko Endeko from Mwangombelo in Manyara Region is a hunter and gatherer from the Hadzabe ethnic group. He and his family are dependent on hunting and gathering fruits, plants and tubers for their livelihoods. He uses fruits and roots for medicinal purposes and wild animals for food.
However, he said he has seen firsthand the impacts of environmental changes. In the 1980s, when he was a boy, he would go to the nearby hilltops and see many animals, such as elephants walking freely. But now, he has to walk several kilometres to see any animal. Endeko said he has also seen forests beginning to disappear as well as temperature changes.
“Because trees are disappearing, the number of animals has declined and there are less fruits and flowers and bees, which is impacting the production of honey,” he said.
He said hunters are being forced to move and follow where the animals and fruits can be found, but this has led to land conflicts.
“These changes impact the traditional way of life,” said Endeko, who is particularly concerned about the cultural effects these changes may bring. Endeko feels that the government is using the wrong interventions to counter the effects of climate change in the hunter-gatherer community.
For example, he said, a local hospital with support from the government tried to bring in goats and cows to their communities to start livestock production. “Instead of herding, the hunter gatherers killed the livestock for food, because they don’t keep animals and are hunters by nature,” said Endeko.
Furaha Nkya is the head teacher at a primary school in Machame in Kilimanjaro Region. He has spent much of his life in Machame and recalls his youth when it would rain for long periods, day and night.
At that time, he remembers there were a lot of forests, which were big and green with plenty of animals. He remembers seeing antelopes, monkeys, and a variety of birds in the forest.
However, all this has changed. Furaha attributes most of the changes to population pressures. With increasing population in Machame, many trees have been cut down for building, firewood and for selling. The main problem is that when trees are cut, they are not replaced or replanted.
But also, he has noticed changes in weather patterns, and rainfall. Rainfall, he says, is the main determinant of crops and livestock; the changing climate has had detrimental effects in Machame. The rains used to be in four clear seasons, but this is no longer the case.
The director of Environment in the Vice-President’s Office, Dr Julius Ningu, said the government was preparing a national strategy on climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.The director of Capacity Building and Empowerment with the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Advocate Imelda Lulu Urio, called for availing accurate weather forecasts to the people, to enable them get prepared.
AllAfrica – All the Time