Climate Change Impacts, Local Knowledge and Coping Strategies in the Great Ruaha River Catchment Area, Tanzania

Climate change has profound implications for managing freshwater resources and species dependent on those resources. Water is an essential component of the life support system of the earth, and a basic resource for socio-economic development. The Great Ruaha River Catchment Area is a dynamic and complex ecosystem requiring inclusion climate change adaptation in the management of the freshwater and natural resources available to reduce the severity of climate change impacts. Rainfall has decreased considerably during the last 10 - 30 years, and characterised by high interannual variability, seasonal shifts and variable seasonal distribution with unpredictable onset and ending of rains and shortened growing seasons. Temperature has increased considerably during this period causing increased evapotranspiration losses and incidences of pest and diseases. The freshwater of Ruaha River and it tributaries are vulneable to changing climate, such as drought, which can negatively impact on the livelihoods of the people through de- creased crop and livestock production, and on local biodiversity. The changing climate has had negative impacts on, among other aspects, land use and water shortages for irrigation, livestock and domestic uses. This has compelled riparian communities in the catchment to devises coping strategies including practicing irrigation to provide supplementary water to crops, using drought tolerant crop varieties, rationing of irrigation water in farmlands, wetland cultivation, and diversification to non-agricultural activities. Despite the existence of many indicators used for local climate forecasting, there are limitations to local adaptation, including among others, poverty, institutional aspects and limited integration of climate adaptation in various sectors. The bulk of indigenous knowledge could be integrated into formal adaptation planning, and may be important components of environmental conservation at the local level.

Historical and Future Spatial and Temporal Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in the Little Ruaha River Catchment, Tanzania

Increased anthropogenic activities in the Little Ruaha River Catchment have modulated the catchment condition, nevertheless, the future changes as a result of increased anthropogenic activities are unknown. Understanding the future changes is vitally important for the design of appropriate strategies towards sustainable management of the catchment resources. This study applied Remote Sensing and GIS techniques (Jensen & Lulla, 1987) to assess the historical long-term changes in land use and land cover using Landsat satellite images of 1990, 2005 and 2015, and modelled the future change in land use and land cover up to 2040 using the stochastic CA-Markov chain (Almeida et al., 2005). The historical land use and land cover change detection results indicate that between 1990 and 2005 the area under forest changed from 39,872 ha to 22,957 ha, woodland changed from 109,692 ha to 72,809 ha, wetland decreased from 19,157 ha to 11,785 ha, the cultivated land increased from 106,782 ha to 109,047 ha, likewise, the built-up area increased from 9408 ha to 11,674 ha. Results between 2005 and 2015 show the substantial changes where the forest decline from 22,957 ha to 15,950 ha, woodland decreased from 72,809 ha to 58,554 ha and the wetland changed from 11,785 ha to 5622 ha. Cultivated land and built up area increased from 109,047 ha and 11,674 ha to 143,468 ha and 13,765 ha respectively. Generally, the study has revealed the substantial decline in forest, woodland and wetland by 23,922 ha, 51,138 ha and 13,535 ha respectively, and an increase of cultivated land and built up area by 36,668 ha and 4357 ha respectively in 15 years, between 1990 and 2015. The predicted future land use and cover for the next 15 years (2040) showed an overall increase in cultivated land, built up area, grassland and bushland to 24.82%, 2.24%, 25.18% and 20.41% respectively, and a decrease in forest, woodland and wetland in the order of 1.87%, 7.87% and 0.03% respectively. The study concludes that, there have been significant changes in land use and cover in the catchment which likely to impend the sustainability of the catchment productivity, hence recommends the holistic system thinking and analysis approach in management and utilization of catchment resources.

Assessing the Hydrology of a Data-Scarce Tropical Watershed Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Case of the Little Ruaha River Watershed in Iringa, Tanzania

The hydrology of the Little Ruaha River which is a major catchment of the Ihemi Cluster in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SA-GCOT) has been studied. The study focused on the hydrological assessment through analysis of the available data and developing a model that could be used for assessing impacts of environmental change. Pressures on land and water resources in the watershed are increasing mainly as a result of human activities, and understanding the hydrological regime is deemed necessary. In this study, modeling was conducted using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in which meteorological and streamflow data were used in the simulation, calibration and evaluation. Calibration and evaluation was done at three gauging stations and the results were deemed plausible with NSE ranging between 0.64 and 0.80 for the two stages. The simulated flows were used for gap filling the missing data and generation of complete daily time series of streamflow at three gauging stations of Makalala, Ihimbu and Mawande. Results of statistical trends and flow duration curves, revealed decline in magnitudes of seasonal and annual flows indicating that streamflows are changing with time and may have implications on envisioned development and the water dependent ecosystems.

Illegal Wildlife Trade: Trade Flows of Wildlife Products and Facilitation Methods in the Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania

Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape is prominent for its potential wildlife resources, which play a key role in sustaining the economy and livelihoods of the people. However, most of these resources are illegally obtained and traded in different places within and outside the Ruaha landscape. Due to its illegal nature, most of the important information regarding the trade is poorly documented. Therefore, the current study aimed first, to explore the origin and destination of wildlife products;second, to assess the relationship between hunters and buyers or customers;third, to assess the means used to transport wildlife products;and lastly, to assess who influences people to engage in illegal hunting and trade activities. In addition, we assess the materials used in the exchange of wildlife products. Semi-structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used to collect information from 123 respondents. Social network analysis was used to indicate the origin and destination of wildlife products. The findings show that 70% of wildlife products originate from the Ruaha National Park and MBOMIPA wildlife management areas, with the remaining 30% originating from villages. The majority of respondents (65%) reported transporting wildlife products by foot and bicycle as the primary modes of transportation. Suppliers of wildlife products are reported to have close and long-term relationships with their customers and traders, with most of whom being friends and relatives. We found most poachers to be influenced by their friends and relatives in terms making decision to engage in illegal wildlife trade. In addition, crops like maize and rice were the most popular products used to exchange with wildlife products in the Ruaha landscape. Therefore, in order to combat illegal trade in wildlife products at the local level, alternative income-generating activities need to be promoted accompanied by not only well-funded anti-poaching programmes but also more effective surveillance plans. These should entail the use of advanced techniques and skills, such as wildlife forensics.

Climate Variability, Impacts and Adaptation Strategies: The Case of Mbeya and Makete Districts in Great Ruaha Catchment in Tanzania

This paper presented key findings from the study which aimed to assess the impacts of climate variability and local adaptation strategies in selected villages of Mbeya and Makete Districts located in the most upper Great Ruaha River catchment in Southern Tanzania. Together, the study districts cover a wide range of climate change related hazards. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used for data collection and analysis. The study shows that, there is significant change in pattern and amount of rainfall contributing to water stress, making people more vulnerable. Local communities are adapting to spatial and temporal climate variability, with varying degrees of success. Traditional smallholder irrigated systems used as adaptation strategies for crop production are characterized by low water use efficiency and high water losses. This implies that, if irrigation is managed properly, it can lead to sustainable increases in small farmer’s productivity and income, thus alleviating rural poverty and enhancing environmental management objectives.

Environmental Flow Assessment of Great Ruaha River in Southwestern Part of Tanzania

Environmental Flow Assessments （EFAs） are becoming the global standard for determining the amount of water required to sustain aquatic ecosystems and sustain socio-economic development. EFAs comprise structured, science-based approaches to determine how much water must be left in the river to protect the aquatic ecosystems and achieve the desired ecological state, The building block methodology （BBM） that was used in this study is designed to identify a series of important flows （the building blocks） which will together provide the essential aspects of the natural hydrological regime that ensure the persistence of as much of the biodiversity as possible. The results show that a total inflow into eastern wetland of 5.52-6.81 m^3/s is required in order to sustain an outflow of 1-2 m^3/s past Ng＇iriama and hence meet the ＂minimum＂ recommended flow rates further downstream at BBM1 and BBM2 during the drought low flow conditions. The rationale being that a satisfactory flow during drought low flow conditions will guarantee sufficient flows during low flow periods in normal and wet years. The low flows of 2.5 m^3/s and 19 m^3/s are recommended for the driest and wettest months, respectively.

Vulnerability of People’s Livelihoods to Water Resources Availability in Semi Arid Areas of Tanzania

In semi-arid areas of Tanzania vulnerability context is depicted as the starting component for policy process analysis through the sustainable livelihood approach. Giving vulnerability a high prominence in this analysis allowed the research to consider all kinds of vulnerabilities as central issues to the ways in which livelihoods are shaped. Hence the Sustainable Livelihood framework was used in this research as the comprehensive framework for assessing the contributing factors to limited water resources availability to sustain people’s livelihoods. The study revealed that, changes in the quantity, timing, intensity and duration of rainfall as a result of climate change contributes to greater water stress and making people more vulnerable. Due to over-abstraction upstream of the Great Ruaha River, it implies that, people depending on the water resources downstream of the Great Ruaha River catchment are vulnerable. Their livelihoods are at risks as they don’t have water for irrigation and other economic activities. The study also revealed that, both vulnerability and livelihood strategies are derived through natural water availability which features droughts, climate change and the link between water availability, agricultural production, and outcomes.

Assessing the Hydrological Conditions of the Usangu Wetlands in Tanzania

Although wetlands make up less than 10% of Tanzania, their “critical, life support, ecosystem services” sustain over 95% of lives, of wildlife and of livestock. They provide security as sources of food, water, energy, economy and livelihoods, therefore, the aim of this paper is to address the current hydrologic conditions of Usangu wetlands. Several approaches were used in the collection of data for analysis. Both primary and sec- ondary data was collected and analysed. The key finding shows that, the overall area of the Usangu Wetlands is divided into two main portions, the Eastern Wetland and the Western Wetland, the core wetland, the Ihefu Swamp varies between 30 and 65 km2, whereas the seasonally wetted areas varies between 260 and 1800 km2. Major perennial rivers which feed the Ihefu swamp in Usangu wetlands include Kimani, Mbalali, Ndembera and the Great Ruaha River. The contribution from Mbalali River ranges between 69.17% and 47.78%;from Ndembera River ranges between 25% and 13.83%;from Kimani River ranges between 25% and 8.33% and from Great Ruaha River contribution ranges 24.0% and 2.96%. The irrigated agriculture is most important as a user of water and impacts most heavily on wetlands. Abstraction of water for agriculture is leading to dried up rivers, falling ground water tables, salinated soil and polluted waterways.

Prospects and Challenges of Village Land Forest Reserves Management in Mbarali District, Tanzania

Prospects and challenges of Village Lands Forest Reserves (VLFRs) in Mbarali district, southern Tanzania were investigated. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys, in-depth key informant interviews, physical field visits and documentary reviews. A total of 44 subjects were involved in the study. SPSS, Microsoft Excel and content analysis were used in data analysis. Findings indicated that inadequate capacity building, passive community participation and involvement in VLFRs management fostered the continued forest degradation and deforestation in the study area. It was further observed that on average 2.04 ha of forest was being lost every year through anthropogenic activities, mainly farm expansion, charcoal business and firewood. In order to achieve VLFRs sustainability, the study recommends improvement of relationship and coordination among VLFRs key stakeholders, participatory preparation of forest management plans, enforcement of community forest management bylaws, and use of energy saving stoves to reduce overdependence on forests as source of energy.