UNDP assists Tanzanian Communities at Risk as Kilimanjaro Ice-caps start to disappear

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) with financing from the Global Environment Facility assists rural communities to manage scare water resources to ensure sustainable development and the future of Pangani Basin in Jeopardy in Tanzania.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, has become the most iconic international symbol of climate change as its famous glacial ice-caps melt. Alarmingly, the mountain's distinctive snow-capped top is projected to disappear completely by 2020 due to modifying environments on the mountain, including fire, vegetation changes, human modifications and climate change impacts. Enough to make anyone pause, the situation is particularly grave for the people of Pangani. As Kilimanjaro's ice melts, water from the southern and eastern mountainsides makes its way to through the coastal town of Pangani to the Indian Ocean, nourishing the landscape. In Pangani, a historic town in northeastern Tanzania, the people rely on Kilimanjaro as their sole source of life-giving water.

For Pangani residents, water management means livelihoods, quality of life, community and children's health, and ultimately, the ability to survive. With the effects of climate change melting Kilimanjaro's ice-caps, water is scarce and conflicts are emerging between water users.

The Pangani River system supports an estimated 3.7 million people, but already there is not enough water to meet demands. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 80% of people in the area depend directly or indirectly on the Pangani River system for their livelihoods. The Pangani basin also supports hydroelectric power plants, agricultural irrigation, and urban and rural drinking water supplies. The three hydroelectric facilities in the system are the source of almost 20% of Tanzania's national power grid capacity.

Water scarcity in Pangani has repercussions on Tanzania's food security, hydropower generation, biodiversity reserves, and other environmental goods and services. Most alarmingly, the irregularity and disappearance of water supplies undermines Tanzania's efforts to secure residents' livelihoods and reduce their poverty levels.

Working with the Government of Tanzania, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with IUCN, is working with water users and managers in the Pangani Basin to build capacity, guide water use allocation, and assist in conflict resolution through the "Pangani River Basin Management Project".

Through UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)'s Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), managed by the Global Environment Facility, this project has been allocated US$ 1 million. With an additional US$ 1.6 million of co-financing from the government of Tanzania, the European Union, and the IUCN, the total project equals US$ 2.6 million.

Recognizing the importance of this project, UNDP is distributing information and outlining economic, social, and environmental consequences of various water allocation scenarios taking possible climate change impacts on the basin into consideration. UNDP is enabling the Pangani Basin Water Board to allocate water permits in a more sustainable way. By collecting data, facilitating community participation, raising awareness, and piloting prioritized community-level adaptation activities, UNDP is facilitationg the equitable provision of freshwater for the environment and for the livelihoods for future generations.

For more information, please consult:

Akiko Yamamoto UNDP- Portfolio Manager E-mail: Akiko.Yamamoto@undp.org