Economic Development and Environment

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.

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.

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MVIWATA hosts Karagwe Diocese farmers groups on field visit

Farmers groups of Karagwe Diocese(KAD), which belongs to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Tanzania, on the 20th January this year, had an opportunity to tour MVIWATA headquarters in Morogoro.

Among other things, the group intended to learn how best advocacy can be done for the Karagwe farmers to enhance access to markets and fetch optimal prices for their produce, bearing in mind it is a border regional town.
Speaking at a one day meeting, Sr. Editha Sylivester, KAD Planning and Development officer, said their organisation was eager to know how MVIWATA has been able to assist farmers address their challenges while it adds value to their welfare.
On his part, Mr Ibrahim Kimani, a facilitator from Danmission, who accompanied the group said Karagwe farmers could use MVIWATA rich experience could sort coffee market problem, which was apparently distorted by unscrupulous dealers.
“We have come here purposely to learn how farmers in Karagwe can be enabled to sell their produce, coffee or beans, at competitive prices,” said Mr Kimani.
Responding to the posed questions, the MVIWATA Team Leader- Economic Empowerment, Mr Nickson Elly said that through numerous agribusiness, entrepreneurship and advocacy trainings, MVIWATA members were capacitated of bargaining skills to get desirable prices.
“It didn’t happen overnight. We invested in training farmers groups on key subjects. And through the markets that we have built in their areas, farmers can now fetch better deals for their crops,” he said.
The tour that was done by MAYAJA and FAP farmers groups (12 persons) resolved with their host that it was high time the two NGOs find ways to work together by learning and exchanging experience on their operations.
“I am very delighted to know MVIWATA ‘s approach. We will see how better we can work together in future especially in our district where you also operate as MVIWATA covers all the country,” added Sr. Editha.
The Karagwe Diocese runs economic, educational, political, public and social welfare. This is a wide range of projects which deal with every part of human life. Started with a heifer project, which provided cows to poor families at Karagwe, now, they have projects concerning the advocacy of farmers and the palliative care.

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Case study; The concept of ICT in Agriculture in India

ICT in agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development in India. It involves application of innovative ways to use Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in the rural domain. The advancements in ICT can be utilised for providing accurate, timely, relevant information and services to the farmers, thereby facilitating an environment for more remunerative agriculture. Given the development scenario in Indian Agriculture, ICT movement is still evolving. However, all the ICT initiatives are not uniform with disparities between regions in the level and quality of telecommunications, information and the effort of individuals, public and private organizations, and differentiated nature of demand of the farmers in different areas. As a result, there have been many successes, failures, lessons learned and experience gained, so far.  While these initiatives are intended to address the needs of the farmers through ICT, their actual usage and their ability to bring significant impact on the farm productivity and socio-economic development of the intended beneficiaries is to be understood. It is relatively unknown as to whether the ultimate beneficiaries actually use the facilities provided for them meaningfully to meet their needs. The common problems in adoption of ICT in rural segments are ICT illiteracy, availability of relevant and localized contents in their own languages, easy and affordable accessibility and other issues such as awareness and willingness for adoption of new technologies among the rural peoples etc. One critical aspect in the usage of ICT’s for farmers and their groups, as seen in some of the ICT driven initiatives, is the involvement of human interface at the last mile indicating that there is a human dependency in transmission of Information/Knowledge to farmers.

Thus, there is a need to understand as to how far the ICT initiatives are able to address the farmers need so that better solutions can be developed to address those unmet needs.  The proposed research aims to study the past and present major ICT initiatives in agriculture in India, the extant of their success, the factors affecting the success as well as failure of such initiatives.   Based on this study, the project will develop and suggest appropriate ICT models to meet farmer’s information needs for different selected scenarios considering the infrastructural and social-economic constraints with some field testing within the existing infrastructure. The ICT models generated in this project can be expected to provide a framework for various stakeholders in agriculture in design and implementation of effective ICT based solutions for agriculture. 

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Power of ICT in transformation of agriculture

Appropriate and timely use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can drive the global push to address a range of food insecurities caused by preventable diseases.

In this special report that examines the power, potential and value of ICT in agricultural transformation in Tanzania reviewing a case study of cassava and maize diseases and pests…

The value of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to agricultural transformation in Tanzania best became evident when severe attacks by several biotic and abiotic dynamics including cassava and corn mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) hit the lake zone.

Majority of Tanzania’s population lives in rural communities relying heavily on natural resources. Two thirds of Tanzanians depends on agriculture, 95 percent of which is rain-fed.

Agriculture is the chief economic activity in the country, currently employing young graduates to develop their small and medium scale farms.
Farmers’ lack of technological knowhow to shift their agriculture from hand hoe to modern farming methods like irrigation and use of tractors seriously undermines food security.

Charles Masanja, a farmer in Misugwi, Mwanza (Lake region) laments that little knowledge on modern agricultural methods, modern communication technologies like use of mobile phones and the internet affects farmers initiative to advance agriculture.

As this farmer has observed, ICT is a powerful mechanism and can play a key role in the development process not only to famers but also in other sectors.
ICT cuts across various technologies of computers, multimedia, telecommunication systems ‘fixed lines, wireless, satellite’ and mobile infrastructures/communication networks.

Constituting the main threat to cassava and maize productivity, both staple foods in the country, the outbreak of CMD and CBSD severely undermined the country’s food security.

The Lake Zone, Geita, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Mara, Mwanza and Kagera regions, were not the only ones affected, central regions of Dodoma, Tabora and Singida also suffered massive yield losses of maize, sunflowers and rice.

Valued for its ability to flourish in harsh conditions, cassavas produce their carbohydrate-rich roots in the poorest of soils and are also drought resistant.
Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Adam Malima notes that under normal circumstances, cassava yields are as high as 25 to 40 tonnes per hectare but owing to the outbreak, yields are sometimes less than 5 tonnes per hectare.

Researchers say CMD alone accounts to the loss of an estimated 45percent of cassava produce in East and Central Africa, worse is CBSD which cleans out 100percent of all yields.

In 2005 for example, CMD alone caused crop losses of 4 million metric tons per year in Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Conversely, CBSD caused estimated crop losses in Tanzania of between $35 and 70 million per year calculated at a price of $100 per metric tons of fresh cassava.

Additionally, loss estimates upon minimum average prices of high quality cassava flour in Dar es Salaam would make this at least $70-140 million at wholesale, and $175-350 million at retail.

With that level of threat, ICT is the key element in the fight against the diseases and saving billions of lives from malnutrition and outright starvation.

Dr Joseph Nduguru, Officer in Charge at the Mikocheni Agriculture Research Institute explains that for sustainable management of cassava virus diseases, “we need to build the capacity of the national research institutions in terms of human and infrastructure.”

“The ability of research institutions to avail their findings to farmers in time, automatically helps in the reduction of yield loss that results from improper use of pests, detection of new diseases and proper harvest/storage of agro produces...” says Dr. Nduguru who goes to note that timely awareness allows for quick response preventing the devastating effects.

As matters stand, farmers in some areas in the country are becoming the victim of CBSD and CMD for replanting cassava cuttings from infected cassava plants.
Take the case of sparking conflict to famers in Mara’s Bunda district, they unknowingly planted infected cassava cuttings from Mwanza villages of Mayolwa in Misungwi district and Nyasenga and Sima in Sengerema.

“Before learning of the disease and its symptoms, we used to point fingers to one another…most of us concluded that it was witchcraft…” concedes Maginge Chacha a cassava farmer from Nyalero.

Consider a texting system that would send such information to the farmers’ phones, they would be informed and warned: then the profound effect of ICT becomes evident. Especially in a country where superstition has seen old women and albinos killed in the hundreds.

ICT in remote and rural areas is a life saver, with available community radio stations lacking regular programs on new outbreaks and other findings, a means to transmit information fast from research institutes directly to the farmers or their extension officers is clearly not a privilege but a necessity, as are phones and access to internet.

During the last decade, these plant pathogens have increased in number, distribution and in some places, they have forced farmers to abandon their fields.
“We need ‘a big push’ from the government to inform the community most of whom depend on agriculture to survive,” says Mwanahamisi Salim a spokesperson for Oxfam Tanzania.

“Speaking of Agriculture, you’re speaking of over 60percent of the entire country’s population…” she explains “…the population needs to be well informed on weather and climate changes, research findings, diseases, available pesticides, markets for their agro produces…”

To mass disperse this information the spokesperson underscores the value of ICT.
She points out that her organization has been training small scale farmers and equipping them with mobile phones through which they can access relevant information on not only outbreaks but also agro-inputs, availability of market and modern agriculture practices.

This is the other frontier that ICT drives the farmers to, market and prices.
Crop auctioneers are notoriously minting millions from farmers but with advent of ICT farmers are empowered with bargaining power since they are aware of market conditions and related prices.

Despite these efforts which have seen an increase in the number of mobile phones to farmers, most of remote parts of the country still suffer from the lack of reliable network signals and frequency coverage.

Tanzania Meteorological Agency Director of Forecasting Services Dr. Hamza Kabelwa confirmed that most of their forecasting findings do not reach farmers especially remote areas.

To bridge the gap, he said the agency in collaboration with other state and non-state organs has set up 23community radio stations across the country to increase farmers’ awareness.

“We have issued a full fledged computer access initiative to Sengerema district council and mobile phones …our goal is to enable farmers get information as fast as possible,” he said.

Further, the agency is setting up its own network server to allow farmers’ representatives to receive text messages directly from the agency.
At the moment, only two Telecom companies Vodacom Tanzania and Tigo Tanzania have projects geared at increasing farmers’ access to information and news.

But still, these services are charged and technical requiring farmers (mostly illiterate) to subscribe to daily messages from the phone companies.

So the Executive Director of the Agricultural Council of Tanzania, Janet Bitegeko says the council is working to strengthen information communication to farmers via easier and free methods.

While there is huge ground to be made, Tanzania has made commendable steps towards development of ICT in the country.

With its advent only a decade ago Tanzania has since then established and developed a fully fledged national ICT Policy overseen by Dar es Salaam Teknoham Business Incubator (DTBi).

According to the organisation’s Chief Executive Officer and Senior Government Advisor (ICT, Innovation & Tech Entrepreneurship) Eng. George Mulamula, the move has created an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and encouraged innovative solutions to meet the needs of most all economic sectors including education, health and now agriculture.

“We provide them with Business Development Services, from technical knowledge to business management skills, and at times linking them to financial resources to allow them to commercialize their products,” he explained.

“In the Agricultural sector, we are linking farmers to the market by providing a price data base and we are setting up a website that disseminates information to both farmers and buyers…” he said.

Working with entrepreneurs, DTBi has also set up a commodity exchange portal that allows access to Tanzanian produce abroad increasing the rate of exports.
Following the Smart-partnership event recently held in Tanzania, DTBi is working on integrating agricultural communities with the blossoming Extractive Industry in a profitable and sustainable manner rather than depending on Corporate Social Responsibility donations.

It will include use of new technologies like wireless sensor systems to monitor soil moisture and assist in irrigation mechanisms.

Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has asserted its will to secure reliable network access across the country, hovering to issue a private number to be used by famers to receive necessary information.

Media in the country is also called to step up the dispersion of information to farmers. With the switch from analogue to digital transmissions the efforts are well underway.

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