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.