Tanzania’s rich natural
resources constitute a major wealth asset which is fundamental for
growth and economic development. Although natural resources are
fundamental to the economy and the livelihoods of the rural population,
their value and potential is frequently underestimated. This
underestimation is partly based on missing markets in the case of public
goods, imperfect competition in the case of distorting government
interventions as well as pricing of natural resources below market
value. Widespread market- and policy failures lead to sub-optimal
economic decision making and loss of income to the country. As long as
these weaknesses are not addressed, a substantial base of economic
growth will be slowly eroded and poverty reduction objectives are
unlikely to be achieved. All the main economic sectors - agriculture,
mining, tourism, wildlife, forestry and fisheries –are based on natural
resources. In all sectors there are important links between management
of the environment and natural resources, sustained growth and poverty reduction:
Agriculture has been described as “the back-bone” of the Tanzanian economy and accounts for about 45% of GDP, 60% of export earnings and 80% of the population’s livelihoods.
Increased productivity within the agricultural sector is key to achieving the 6-8 % annual
growth rate targeted in the MKUKUTA. The growth in the agricultural sector is targeted to increase from 5 % in 2003 to 10 % in 2010 – a target which may prove very difficult to
achieve. Modernizations and expansion of agriculture call for careful consideration of the
adverse affects that intensified irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers and changed crops may have on the environment (e.g. water pollution, reduced water flows, deforestation, land
Degradation) (URT, 2004c).
The MKUKUTA includes several measures to mitigate potential negative environmental
Impacts from increased agricultural growth. A failure to implement these and similar
Measures may aggravate poverty, environmental degradation and the prospects for long run economic growth.
The mining sector has experienced double digit growth during the last years, but only accounts for about 2 % of total GDP. Only 10 years ago the mining industry in Tanzania was still basically artisanal. Today Tanzania is Africa’s third largest exporter of gold, and produces a number of other valuable minerals for export. The description of the mining sector as a success growth story has however been questioned on: (i) the contribution of the sector to government revenues4, (ii) the effects on employment as technology intensive large scale mining replaces labor intensive small scale mining and (iii) the local impacts on poverty and environment (e.g. soil erosion, land degradation, deforestation, pollution of air, drinking water and water bodies).
The MKUKUTA notes that “serious poverty concerns [of mining] have been raised regarding the impacts on environment, tensions over land rights and labor relations in areas where these activities have risen dramatically. The challenge ahead is to ensure that investments benefit the wider economy giving particular attention to disadvantaged regions”. However, these concerns are not picked up in the targets and interventions for the mining sector in the MKUKUTA. The government has integrated several environmental safeguards in its policies, such as calls for Environmental Management Plans and Environmental Impact Assessments as a condition for Special Mining Licenses, but the implementation of these safeguards have been questioned. The
issues related to mining are complex and hence merit considerable more analysis than presently outlined5.
The tourism industry has grown at an average rate of more than 6% during last years and
Accounts for roughly 5% of GDP. To maintain growth in the sector, it is necessary to manage the natural environment sustainably. Moreover, future growth of the tourism sector may involve significant environment-poverty related trade-offs.
Since natural resource based tourism happens at the expense of other use of the resource, the sharing of benefits from tourism by local communities is a key issue. The MKUKUTA states that “barriers to communities gaining increased benefits from natural resources (e.g. wildlife) need to be removed”, but is not explicitly addressing how environmental safeguards will accompany tourism sector development.
The Wildlife sector has potential for increased growth and revenue generation and is important for the food security, nutrition and income of rural communities6. However, the sector suffers from mismanagement, under-pricing, over-use of resources, loss of revenues and limited sharing and participation of rural communities. Well managed, the game-hunting industry is one of the few non-farm industries with potential for economic development in remote rural areas of Tanzania. According to the follow-up regulations to the Wildlife Act (from 1998), local communities should receive at least 20% of hunting revenues, but this has not been implemented in practice.
Mining is connected with substantial tax breaks and relatively low royalties.
The impact of Extractive Industries (such as mining) on poverty and environment have been documented by the Extractive Industries Review by the World Bank Group (www.eireview.org)
Well over two-thirds of the population eats wild meat, and according to one source, 95 % of the rural population claim wild meat to be their most important source of protein.
The Tanzanian forests provide goods and services of crucial importance to poor households and the national economy. 95 % of the energy supply, 75 % of the construction materials and almost all indigenous medicinal products are estimated to be directly derived from forest biodiversity. In addition, eco-system services, such as soil conservation, watershed protection and carbon sequestration, have a large indirect economic value. However, since markets are poorly functioning or non-existent for many of these products and services, they are not accounted for in the national accounts. Consequently the forestry sector officially accounts for only 2-3 percent of GDP.
To increase the contribution from forestry to the incomes of rural communities, the MKUKUTA calls for (among other things) a scaling up of Participatory Forest Management, harmonized natural resource sector policies, and the development of a rural energy master plan including an extension of rural electrification7. A new framework for forestry management has also been developed and implementation is ongoing8. With sustainable management and good governance the potential for pro poor growth and revenue generation from the sector is considerable. There are also many good examples of agro forestry at the village level.
The rapid deforestation constitutes a serious threat to rural livelihoods as well as lost opportunities for growth and revenue generation. For example, turning the “illegally” operating charcoal industry into a major employment and income generating sub-sector in rural areas may have a huge potential, indicated by current annual incomes from charcoal amounting to 40% and more in rural households. It is also claimed that royalties within the sector are presently set arbitrarily and that only 5-10% of the potential revenue is actually collected.
Fisheries represent a significant source of revenue and foreign exchange, and sustain
Livelihoods, in the form of food security and employment and income, of poor people. The Tanzanian fisheries are at or near a state of full development, and sustainable and equitable management is a key challenge. While the inland fisheries, and specifically the Victoria Lake fisheries, are overexploited, the marine fisheries may have potential for growth. In both the inland and marine fisheries, there are conflicting interests between communities reliant on fish resources for their livelihoods and the export oriented commercial fisheries. Good governance which secures maximizing and equitably sharing of benefits, sustainability of extraction levels and maintaining productive marine and inland water ecosystems, is thus a key issue. Today potential revenues are not captured, and negative impacts for poor people are experienced. These developments call for a change in focus from attraction of foreign direct investment to a broad-based, equitable and environmentally sustainable fisheries development. Key policy reforms would include (i) developing the regulatory framework, (ii) strengthening the management capacity, and (iii) securing the livelihoods of the poor in the sector.
OWN PERSPECTIVE
There is a big relationship between environment and human activities in the world. The environment depends on man and the man also depends much on environment in order to survive and exist. There fore, despite of the environmental crisis facing Tanzania today, the Government should prepare a well implement able strategy for environmental Conservation to make sure that the current generation utilize it but with great caution to make sure that the future generation will also find the good environment for them to survive. This is to say that we have to make sure of the sustainable utilization of environmental resources such as land, wildlife animals, forests and water sources.
of the environment and natural resources, sustained growth and poverty reduction:
Agriculture has been described as “the back-bone” of the Tanzanian economy and accounts for about 45% of GDP, 60% of export earnings and 80% of the population’s livelihoods.
Increased productivity within the agricultural sector is key to achieving the 6-8 % annual
growth rate targeted in the MKUKUTA. The growth in the agricultural sector is targeted to increase from 5 % in 2003 to 10 % in 2010 – a target which may prove very difficult to
achieve. Modernizations and expansion of agriculture call for careful consideration of the
adverse affects that intensified irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers and changed crops may have on the environment (e.g. water pollution, reduced water flows, deforestation, land
Degradation) (URT, 2004c).
The MKUKUTA includes several measures to mitigate potential negative environmental
Impacts from increased agricultural growth. A failure to implement these and similar
Measures may aggravate poverty, environmental degradation and the prospects for long run economic growth.
The mining sector has experienced double digit growth during the last years, but only accounts for about 2 % of total GDP. Only 10 years ago the mining industry in Tanzania was still basically artisanal. Today Tanzania is Africa’s third largest exporter of gold, and produces a number of other valuable minerals for export. The description of the mining sector as a success growth story has however been questioned on: (i) the contribution of the sector to government revenues4, (ii) the effects on employment as technology intensive large scale mining replaces labor intensive small scale mining and (iii) the local impacts on poverty and environment (e.g. soil erosion, land degradation, deforestation, pollution of air, drinking water and water bodies).
The MKUKUTA notes that “serious poverty concerns [of mining] have been raised regarding the impacts on environment, tensions over land rights and labor relations in areas where these activities have risen dramatically. The challenge ahead is to ensure that investments benefit the wider economy giving particular attention to disadvantaged regions”. However, these concerns are not picked up in the targets and interventions for the mining sector in the MKUKUTA. The government has integrated several environmental safeguards in its policies, such as calls for Environmental Management Plans and Environmental Impact Assessments as a condition for Special Mining Licenses, but the implementation of these safeguards have been questioned. The
issues related to mining are complex and hence merit considerable more analysis than presently outlined5.
The tourism industry has grown at an average rate of more than 6% during last years and
Accounts for roughly 5% of GDP. To maintain growth in the sector, it is necessary to manage the natural environment sustainably. Moreover, future growth of the tourism sector may involve significant environment-poverty related trade-offs.
Since natural resource based tourism happens at the expense of other use of the resource, the sharing of benefits from tourism by local communities is a key issue. The MKUKUTA states that “barriers to communities gaining increased benefits from natural resources (e.g. wildlife) need to be removed”, but is not explicitly addressing how environmental safeguards will accompany tourism sector development.
The Wildlife sector has potential for increased growth and revenue generation and is important for the food security, nutrition and income of rural communities6. However, the sector suffers from mismanagement, under-pricing, over-use of resources, loss of revenues and limited sharing and participation of rural communities. Well managed, the game-hunting industry is one of the few non-farm industries with potential for economic development in remote rural areas of Tanzania. According to the follow-up regulations to the Wildlife Act (from 1998), local communities should receive at least 20% of hunting revenues, but this has not been implemented in practice.
Mining is connected with substantial tax breaks and relatively low royalties.
The impact of Extractive Industries (such as mining) on poverty and environment have been documented by the Extractive Industries Review by the World Bank Group (www.eireview.org)
Well over two-thirds of the population eats wild meat, and according to one source, 95 % of the rural population claim wild meat to be their most important source of protein.
The Tanzanian forests provide goods and services of crucial importance to poor households and the national economy. 95 % of the energy supply, 75 % of the construction materials and almost all indigenous medicinal products are estimated to be directly derived from forest biodiversity. In addition, eco-system services, such as soil conservation, watershed protection and carbon sequestration, have a large indirect economic value. However, since markets are poorly functioning or non-existent for many of these products and services, they are not accounted for in the national accounts. Consequently the forestry sector officially accounts for only 2-3 percent of GDP.
To increase the contribution from forestry to the incomes of rural communities, the MKUKUTA calls for (among other things) a scaling up of Participatory Forest Management, harmonized natural resource sector policies, and the development of a rural energy master plan including an extension of rural electrification7. A new framework for forestry management has also been developed and implementation is ongoing8. With sustainable management and good governance the potential for pro poor growth and revenue generation from the sector is considerable. There are also many good examples of agro forestry at the village level.
The rapid deforestation constitutes a serious threat to rural livelihoods as well as lost opportunities for growth and revenue generation. For example, turning the “illegally” operating charcoal industry into a major employment and income generating sub-sector in rural areas may have a huge potential, indicated by current annual incomes from charcoal amounting to 40% and more in rural households. It is also claimed that royalties within the sector are presently set arbitrarily and that only 5-10% of the potential revenue is actually collected.
Fisheries represent a significant source of revenue and foreign exchange, and sustain
Livelihoods, in the form of food security and employment and income, of poor people. The Tanzanian fisheries are at or near a state of full development, and sustainable and equitable management is a key challenge. While the inland fisheries, and specifically the Victoria Lake fisheries, are overexploited, the marine fisheries may have potential for growth. In both the inland and marine fisheries, there are conflicting interests between communities reliant on fish resources for their livelihoods and the export oriented commercial fisheries. Good governance which secures maximizing and equitably sharing of benefits, sustainability of extraction levels and maintaining productive marine and inland water ecosystems, is thus a key issue. Today potential revenues are not captured, and negative impacts for poor people are experienced. These developments call for a change in focus from attraction of foreign direct investment to a broad-based, equitable and environmentally sustainable fisheries development. Key policy reforms would include (i) developing the regulatory framework, (ii) strengthening the management capacity, and (iii) securing the livelihoods of the poor in the sector.
OWN PERSPECTIVE
There is a big relationship between environment and human activities in the world. The environment depends on man and the man also depends much on environment in order to survive and exist. There fore, despite of the environmental crisis facing Tanzania today, the Government should prepare a well implement able strategy for environmental Conservation to make sure that the current generation utilize it but with great caution to make sure that the future generation will also find the good environment for them to survive. This is to say that we have to make sure of the sustainable utilization of environmental resources such as land, wildlife animals, forests and water sources.
There
should be policies and planning to conserve the environment although it
seems to be challenging for Tanzania to reverse the loss of its
environmental resources unless a significant progress is made in the
reduction of poverty levels because poverty is the biggest source of
environmental degradation in Tanzania. Lack of alternatives to fuel
sources has made it difficult for people especially in rural areas to
stop using fire wood.
However. both environmental degradation and poverty alleviation are urgent global issues that have a lot in common, but are often treated separately. There should be an integrated plan to deal with environment and poverty together.
However. both environmental degradation and poverty alleviation are urgent global issues that have a lot in common, but are often treated separately. There should be an integrated plan to deal with environment and poverty together.
