ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

Managing natural resources while trying to improve people’s standards of living
is becoming a big challenge to many African countries, including Tanzania

With a population increase well on its way beyond 2.8% annually; only 10% of the country’s 32 million people have access to electricity. Tanzanian’s, however, are involving themselves in ever-increasing economic activities to improve their standard of living. This is putting enormous pressure on the existing environment and on the country’s forest reserves. The challenge is, how to harmonise the environment with economic activity?

The liberalisation of Tanzania’s economy and the Structural Adjustment Programmes the government adopted in 1986, has brought about positive economic results on the one hand, but on the other, is endangering the existing environment and forest reserves. The liberalisation and economic reforms have made people throw themselves into different activities, to try to bridge the gap left by the removal of subsidies which were provided by the government in the form of agricultural inputs, among others.

These commercial activities include the farming of commercial crops such as tobacco; wood cutting, small-scale farming around water sources and charcoal burning.

Already, the Ministry for Natural Resources and Tourism estimates that more than 91,000 hectares of forest reserve is destroyed annually as a result of these activities. The figure represents 39% of Tanzania’s total forest reserves.

The forests being destroyed constitute 71% of those forest reserves set aside by the government for different uses — timber, forage for animals, traditional medicine, mushrooms, honey, beeswax, fruits, nuts and fire-wood. Apart from clearing the forest for agricultural purposes, wild honey collectors and other activities have been causing great harm to the forests reserves.

Available data indicates that in the Kilimanjaro region alone (Kilimanjaro Mountain is Africa’s highest mountain), 125 fire incidents were reported between 1996 and 2001. During this period, a total of 5,513 hectares of natural forests were destroyed by fires.

Why the destruction?

Economic pressure on people’s living! This explains the entire cause of the tragedy. As explained earlier, out of Tanzania’s estimated 32 million population, only 10% have access to electricity. The remainder depend on firewood, charcoal, and fuel as their main source of energy. Anyone wishing to have electricity installed may have to wait up to a year because of red-tape; and for these with electricity, the situation does not allow them to use it effectively because of high tariffs. Tanzania’s rates for electricity have been among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, making investor and industrialists uncompetitive both regionally and globally. It’s only recently that the government has intervened by reducing the rates for electricity used by local industrialists.

With this in mind, we can better appreciate why such large areas of forest have been cleared for charcoal. Even in major cities such as Dar es Salaam, people have frequently no alternative but to use charcoal as an energy source.

Initiatives to curb the situation include the use of thermal insulation and solar roof tiles. Natural gas from Songo Songo Island to generate electricity is also another possibility. This is expected to be cheaper and hence affordable to a large section of Tanzania’s population.

• Perege Gumbo, Tanzania, December 2002 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment