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Weather events caused by climate change such as droughts and floods cost Tanzania about 2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which translates to approximately 600bn/- every year, a new report has shown.
Weather events caused by climate change such as droughts and floods cost Tanzania about 2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which translates to approximately 600bn/- every year, a new report has shown.
Funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID) on behalf of Development Partners Group (DPG), the report, titled “The Economies of Climate Change in Tanzania,” estimates that the
costs will double in the next 20 years.
Tanzania's daily, 'the Daily News' recently quoted the Minister of State in the Vice-President Office (Environment), Dr Terezya Huvisa saying that climate change was not just an environmental issue but an economic and social issue as well.
The paper adds that climate change has a great impact on Tanzania’s ability to develop and therefore needs to be tackled for the benefit of the people, that is why the country should act now to adapt to present and future impacts of climate change.
To manage the climate change Dr Huvisa says there is a need to improve management of natural resources and develop a national climate change strategy by helping key sectors like agriculture,
energy, water and coastal zones adapt to climate change.
Head of DFID office in Dar es Salaam Darren Welch says that climate change will increasingly hit poor people hardest and roll back hard-won development gains in areas such as poverty reduction, growth as well as health and education.
“It (climate change) affects people’s ability to cultivate enough food and get enough water. While climate change is undoubtedly a massive threat, the study also illustrates some opportunities and the need to take action to adapt the situation,” Mr Welch says.
Commenting on the climate change impacts in Tanzania, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recent report says that Kilimanjaro glaciers and snow cover have been retreating (55% of glacier loss between 1962 and 2000.
The reports says that the spatial extent of Kilimanjaro’s ice fields has decreased by 80%, suggesting that if current climatological conditions persist, the remaining ice fields are likely to disappear between 2015 and 2020.
"Loss of ‘cloud forests’ since 1976 resulting in 25% annual reductions of water sources derived from fog, affecting annual drinking water of 1 million people living in Kilimanjaro" says the report WWF says that deep tropical lakes, are also experiencing reduced algal abundance and declines in productivity because stronger stratification reduces upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water.
Primary productivity in Lake Tanganyika, says the report, may have decreased by up to 20% over the past 200 years, and for the East African Rift Valley lakes, recent declines in fish abundance have been linked with climatic impacts on lake ecosystems.
"The 1997-1998 coral bleaching observed in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea was coupled to a strong ENSO (an indication of the potential impact of climate-change induced ocean warming on coral reefs). In the western Indian Ocean region, a 30% loss of corals reduced tourism in Mombasa and Zanzibar and resulted in financial losses of about US$ 12-18 million" the report says.
Mangroves and coral reefs, the main coastal ecosystems in Africa, will likely be affected by climate change, while endangered species associated with these ecosystems, including manatees and marine turtles, could also be at risk, along with migratory birds.
One of the best solution in sight is the East African Community (EAC) intention to set up a climate change fund that will mitigate weather-related disasters in the region.
Although overdue, the measure is welcome taking into account the fact that vagaries of weather have been hitting East Africa for so long.
Tanzania's private english Daily , the Citizen says in its editorial of March 7, 2011 that drought, floods, landslides and hailstorms have been occurring intermittently, while downpours have swept away homes and crops, killing or injuring people or leaving economies in disarray with damaged infrastructure.
"Drought has scorched crops and caused starvation or deaths to people and livestock" said tha citizen's editor. The newspaper says that environmentalists have warned that drought will increase in Eastern Africa, with food deficit areas likely to increase.
The Citizen quotes the EAC secretary general Ambassador Juma Mwapachu calling for necessary steps to be undertaken to mitigate drought and provide timely climate early warning information, as well as sector-specific products to minimise the impacts of climate change.
"We would like the bloc to react quickly and correctly to such realities and threats, mobilise resources and send right information to East Africans" says the editorial.
All in all the most affected sector in Tanzania is energy, which has forced the introduction of power shedding, thus affecting delivery of goods and services countrywide.
Recent report published by the government-owned newspaper 'the Daily News' quoted the Parliamentary Energy and Minerals Committee that has underscored the need for the government to seriously promote sources of energy other than water to enable the country to have a reliable electric supply.
Power generation at Mtera and Kidatu dams is set to decline further owing to decreasing water levels. The situation has been attributed to rainfall decrease in the country's southern highlands.
The fall of water levels in Mtera and Kidatu dams, which are the major hydro electric power generating centers, is said to be the consequence of severe climate change which is expected to cause the decrease in rainfalls.
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