Lack of harmonization and linkage of
water management and natural resource policies, lack of maintenance of water
infrastructure, gender blind technologies, farmers inability to use appropriate
technologies due to lack of know-how and
poor access to credit, were identified as
some of the key factors that hinder the efficient use of water in agriculture
in Tanzania. These in turn contribute to conflict over water among
various users as well as wastage of the scarce resource.
The issues were identified by
stakeholders from the relevant sectors such as agriculture, the environment,
and land and water at a meeting in Dar es Salaam that aimed at identifying the
key issues affecting efficient use of water for agricultural production
including use of appropriate technologies and making policy recommendations.
The workshop is part of the activities
of the Policy Action for Climate Change Action (PACCA) project
whose goal is to inform and link policies and institutions from national to
local level for the development and adoption of climate-resilient food systems
in Uganda and Tanzania.
The discussions were based on the
findings of a study on the Cost-Benefit Analysis on Water Use Technologies
(WUT) in Tanzania which was funded by PACCA and conducted by the Sokoine University of
Agriculture (SUA).
“We need to increase our agricultural
production in order to ensure the country is food and nutrition secure. At the
same time, diminishing water resources are at crisis level, hence we need to
use water resources efficiently so they can cater for both agriculture and
other sectors of the economy,” said Dr Frederick Kahimba, one of the
researchers.
The researchers conducted a cost-benefit analysis of existing appropriate
water use technologies for smallholder farmers to assist policy makers in
identifying the best options to promote. From the study, drip irrigation was
found to have the highest monetary return with a nearly double return for every
shilling invested. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and community micro-dams
were other technologies that had high returns at nearly 40% and 21%,
respectively. Other technologies include traditional canals/furrow
system and construction of terraces.
At the end of the workshop, the
participants came up with a set of recommendations on the priority issues to be
tackled including review of and harmonization of existing water-use policies.
According to Perez Muchunguzi, a
Multi-stakeholder Specialist with International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA) and part of PACCA project team, the workshop was very
useful and marked an important milestone for the project.
“This event is part of a series of
meetings that the project has been conducting to support the development of
appropriate policies on food security and climate change that are informed by
science. We were able to bring various relevant decision makers and
implementers in one room to dialog and identify priority issues and gaps and
give policy recommendations for the water sector which is very important for
climate change and food security, using input from research,” he said.
The opening of the workshop was
officiated by Magdalena J. Mtenga, Assistant Director,
Environmental Pollution Control Section, in the Vice President’s Office
on behalf of the Deputy Permanent Secretary. The closing was done by the
Acting Director-General of the National Irrigation Commission (NIC), Seth
Luswema. They both lauded the event for its effort to support the country put
in place measures to prepare for climate change.
PACCA is a project of the CGIAR Program on Climate Change
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) led by IITA in collaboration with the
Environmental Management Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Food Security and Cooperatives.
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