Ecological Restoration and Water Flow Improvement For Food Security in the Context of Changing Climate: Learning from Small-holder Farmers of Southern Tanzania

Abstract

Wetland ecosystems are estimated to cover 10% of the land surface area in
Tanzania. Human activities, together with environmental factors such as climate
change, have been pointed out as a major threat to the services they provide on
climate and flood regulation, water and food provisioning, sediment removal, and
human welfare, among others. Various efforts have been undertaken to restore the
ecological functions of wetlands in different areas of Tanzania. However,
insufficient attention has been paid to understanding the impacts of restoration
efforts on the sustainability of water access for people who have been influencing
such efforts. This study investigated whether the ecological restoration efforts
introduced in the wetlands of southern Tanzania between 2005 and 2011 had
improved the flow of water for wetland agriculture to the people of the area in the
context of a changing climate. The TREND v. 1.02-time series software was used
to determine water flow in the sampled restored wetland. To supplement
quantitative data, interviews and direct observation methods were used to get
social and qualitative information from the people in the area on the trend for water
flow. The results showed three key findings: (i) wetlands restoration efforts have
not achieved remarkable results since the flow of water has declined from 6.3 m3/s
before, to 4.7 m3/s after restoration efforts; (ii) the flow of water in wetlands (r =
0.37) is more explained by factors other than rainfall (r = 0.27), and that human
activities have contributed to the decline in flow; and (iii) there is a close
relationship between culture and wetlands, where sacred wetlands were found to
continue releasing water all year round for food production, indicating that culture
is one of the tools for water resources management in climate-risk environments.
Therefore, studies on the importance of using sacred wetlands to conserve water
for increased food production in a space-limited wetland system with zero water
loss are recommended.