Connecting poverty and ecosystem services: focus on Tanzania

How are Africa’s ecosystems faring? This report provides a preliminary overview of ecosystem services in Tanzania and the corresponding constituents and determinants of well-being related to the availability of these services. This paper is one in a series of seven country scoping studies.

The objective of the series is to identify the regions within the countries where critical ecosystem services for human well-being are stressed, signalling the need for immediate attention. This information is expected to guide the selection of potential areas where more detailed assessments can be carried out. Lessons learned can then be used together with new knowledge gathered on the links between ecosystem services and human well-being to design intervention strategies that would seek to promote the reduction of poverty and improve well-being while protecting and enhancing vital ecosystem services.

The Tanzania country study finds that:

• Tanzanians are experiencing pervasive water scarcity and inability to earn an adequate livelihood, as both are threatened in all mainland regions. These two constituents are mutually reinforcing as over 80 per cent of the population achieves livelihood through subsistence farming
• regions experiencing deterioration in food and fibre provision, also face serious problems in meeting adequate nourishment levels
• Morogoro Region stands out as it is experiencing stress in all four ecosystem services and wellbeing constituents, which suggests that it should be a priority region for development efforts
• biodiversity is now under threat in several regions, a loss that is particularly distressing, as Tanzania has had a long tradition of conserving biodiversity
• the main problem confronting most regions is the management of water with most of the population facing difficulty accessing water. The lack of appropriate technology for managing water, coupled with the increasing loss of forests and vegetative cover has increased the rate of runoff and precipitation capture. This is further compounded by population growth of five per cent annually
• declining food yields are caused by decreasing soil fertility and by farmers working the land more intensively, compounded with a lack of expertise in using fertilizers and decreasing supply of natural fertilisers from cattle.

Tanzania’s ecosystem services revealed four critically stressed ecosystem services: maintenance of biodiversity; food and fibre provision; water supply, purification and regulation; and fuel provision. In terms of services related to human well-being, the report finds the following wanting: the ability to be adequately nourished; the ability to access adequate clean water; the ability to have energy and to keep warm; and the ability to earn a livelihood.