MANY Tanzanians are aware of the impact of climate change on their neighbourhood and on their livelihood, but may not be conscious of the right steps to take to mitigate it. If you ask people about the impact of climate change, they will mention a few changes in their neighbourhood and in their lives.

People living along the coastal region of the Indian Ocean will say they experience the scarcity of fish, the bleaching of coral reefs, the wilting of some mangroves, a rise in the level of the Indian Ocean, the salinity of freshwater wells and the frequent inundation of lowlands. They will also say some residents of the lowlands have relocated to highlands because the areas they were living in have been submerged by ocean water.

People who live along inland freshwater bodies too will say they experience the scarcity of fish, the disappearance of some fish species and the drying up of some of the rivers they used to see flowing normally when they were young. Likewise, other people mention desertification, soil degradation, drought, and unpredictable precipitation patterns. The latter has changed the way farmers prepare land, and grow crops, and has led to low crop yield, food insecurity and malnutrition.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 published by FAO says that lack of improvement in food security and uneven progress in economic access to healthy diets cast a shadow over the possibility of achieving zero hunger in the world by 2030.  Sustainable development goal (SDG) Target 2.1 says: “By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.”

FAO’s report (mentioned above) suggests that 582 million people will be chronically undernourished at the end of the decade, more than half of them in Africa. “There is the need to accelerate the transformation of our agrifood systems to strengthen their resilience to the major drivers and address inequalities to ensure that healthy diets are affordable for and available to all.”

There is also biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, plastic pollution and air pollution. The State of the World’s Migratory Species 2024 says: “Overexploitation of natural resources is the primary cause of biodiversity loss in the world’s oceans and the second most important driver of global biodiversity loss on land.” It adds: “habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation is among the main drivers of global biodiversity loss in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.”

Moreover, it says habitat destruction and degradation is also a significant driver of biodiversity loss in marine ecosystems, where the loss of habitats like seagrass meadows as a result of climate change, pollution, land reclamation and port expansion have triggered population declines in some aquatic species which rely on seagrass as a source of food.

A World Bank report on the costs of environmental degradation from plastic pollution in selected coastal areas of Tanzania published in 2023 says plastic pollution is a global challenge. It suggests that, while each year, 19-23 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is estimated to leak into the world’s aquatic ecosystems and the ocean, in Tanzania, it is estimated that 29,000 tonnes of plastic waste enter the ocean each year. “This plastic waste leakage comes primarily from land-based sources due to the country’s weak solid waste management,” says the report.

There are also invasive alien species and diseases. A paper titled “Managing invasive plants through a nature-based approach in complex landscapes” authored by Ngondya Issakwisa and published in 2022 says invasive plants are a global threat to biodiversity. Giving an example of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), the author says there are at least 25 invasive plants which are prevalent in the main crater and other NCA grassland areas. “These two invasive [plants] are fire adapted and grow in pure stands or in patches with other native species, depending on site conditions and past disturbances such as fire, overgrasing, settlements, and precipitation.”  

Those living near Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, will say about the rapid disappearance of snow, which in the past used to cover the entire mountain, but today it remains a mere snow cap on the top of the mountain. UNESCO suggests that snow on Mount Kilimanjaro is likely to disappear by 2040.

According to UNESCO, Mount Kilimanjaro has lost 82 per cent of its snow cap since 1912 and 55 per cent of its glaciers since 1962. Climate change is the main cause of the disappearance of the snow cap on Mount Kilimanjaro as a result of rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns, with less snow falling on the glaciers.

Thus, climate change is real and is to stay unless something positive is done to address it. Human activities are the main cause of climate change and although there are global initiatives to mitigate climate change, informed interventions are needed because it is through such interventions that climate change can be effectively addressed.