Strategic development plan for integrated water resources management in Lake Manyara sub-basin, North-Eastern Tanzania

Abstract

This paper reports that the core problem in the water resources management of the Lake Manyara sub-basin in north-eastern Tanzania is unsustainable utilization and management of natural resources. The subsequent effects observed in the sub-basin are natural resource use conflicts, poverty, low productivity, overcrowding, high siltation in rivers and lakes, degraded environment, decreased river flows, polluted water sources, etc. In order to establish strategies to arrest this situation, a strategic planning process has been used as a tool involving key stakeholders in the basin at various levels. Policy making officials at the district level i.e. planning officers, agricultural officers, water engineers and natural resources officers and grass root level experiences of respective wards in the basin were established through involving Ward executive officers. Water users of the key sectors in the basin were equally involved which included hotels, tented camps, irrigators and livestock keepers. Institutions working in natural resources management in the areas also participated including NGOs. The main causes leading to unsustainable utilization and management of natural resources were established as poverty, environment degradation, poor governance, weak enforcement of conservation laws, conflicting policies, inadequate experts at all levels, inadequate information on natural resources, high natural population growth rate, high immigration rates, high livestock population in comparison to land carrying capacity, political interference in implementation, limited water resources and lack of basin wide institution managing the natural resources in the basin. Various strategic objectives were identified by stakeholders and respective strategies, activities and verifiable indicators mapped for implementation. Stakeholders having owned the process and articulated the strategies themselves showed commitment and readiness to cooperate in the implementation of the plan.