LEEDS, United Kingdom — Tanzania, cited by Biovision, is nearly entirely self-sufficient in its food production. Largely an agricultural economy, 70% of Tanzania’s population lives in rural settlements, with employment in farming sectors making up 75% of the workforce. Despite this, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) notes that malnutrition and food insecurity are rife among the population, with roughly 34% of children under 5 stunted due to malnourishment.

The heavy economic dependence on agriculture in Tanzania makes maintaining the farming sector for food security crucial. However, one significant obstacle to this is the prevalent water scarcity. Professor Anna Mdee from the University of Leeds, having worked and researched water sustainability in Morogoro, Tanzania, sheds light on how this scarcity might reduce.

Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania

Mdee highlighted the work Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), founded by Janet Maro, is doing to empower farmers and work towards sustainable solutions. SAT focuses mainly on the advantages and implementation of agroecology. This “holistic and sustainable approach integrates ecological principles and social dynamics in farming systems,” according to its website.

An NGO “started out of an agricultural university in Morogoro,” Mdee noted her involvement with the organization included “putting together the evidence that was coming out with their farmer groups about how much production was being improved because the idea of agroecology is that its low input.” She clarified that, in this case, low input means rejecting “lots of chemical fertilizers and improved seeds, so it’s relatively low-cost production, but actually, the farmers were making more profits.” Indeed, SAT reports that the impact of agroecology has manifested in 97% of farmers reporting that their livelihood has been improved and 76% have seen better nutrition.

Agroecology: A Solution To Water Scarcity?

To understand why agroecology is such a compelling solution, it is important to note the obstacles to farming that come with water scarcity. Mdee highlighted that livelihoods are heavily tied up with agriculture and “not having water for irrigation and growing crops is a major limiting factor.” The appeal of agroecology largely stems from its efficient water use. This includes favoring small-scale irrigation, ridge farming, contour cultivation and avoiding high-water-demand improved seeds in response to the significant water expenses associated with conventional irrigation methods.

Beyond this, Mdee drew attention to the “political” dimension of water scarcity, illustrating how agroecology has prevented the eviction of Tanzanian farmers from farmland. “One of the drivers behind [Tanzanian farmers] adopting agroecology,” she noted, “was competition for the water and the river. They were being blamed for water scarcity downstream because they live in the mountains where the rains fall most and the rivers start. There was then water scarcity in the town below, in Morogoro and there was water scarcity in the river, which was supposedly going to these irrigation projects for rich commercial farmers or foreign investors. What often happens when there is water scarcity is that, politically, you blame the weakest population. So, they did attempt to move these farmers off the mountain.”

Calling back to the work of SAT, she concluded that “SAT managed to negotiate locally that the farmers could stay on the mountain if they adopted these more environmentally sensitive and water conservation techniques, which they did. They’ve been able to stay there ever since.”

Localizing Collaboration

Mdee cites one of the factors behind the success of projects like the implementation of agroecology as the heavy degree of localizing solutions. “There’s no point shouting at local governments to deliver things that it can’t deliver,” she summarized, “What we need to work out together is what can it deliver? What can it be reasonably expected to deliver?”

Evaluating local resources and capacity explains why techniques like agroecology are so effective, as they draw on “older forms of agriculture” that were “very often better and more sustainable and could even be part of improved livelihoods.” In sum, the best solutions to problems like food insecurity and poverty stem from close collaboration with localities so that, as Mdee put it, “locally based solutions [don’t] get lost.”

– Kayleigh O’Brien/BorgenMagazine
Photo: Pexels