Hellow  every one today i would like to share my Tanzanian experience in the effectes of climate change. In this article i will talk about the effects of climate change, the efforts of the goverment of Tanzania and young people in tackling these diaster.United Republic Of Tanzania is a country found in East Africa blessed with numerous unique tourist attractions, its a country found in the Africa Great Lakes region with Lake Tanganyika as the deepest lake in Africa and the Ngorongoro Crater worlds most largest inactive volcanic caldera. Not to mention Mount Kilimanjaro the highest point in Africa. All these beautiful features and many more are found in Tanzania. Like any other developing country Tanzania is also a victim of climate change, climate change is affecting the whole globe and the threat it poses to mankind is evident to all of us. Tanzania being a developing country the risk is even more serious. We have more pronounced effects of climate change, a country which has least contibution to the problem and we can hardly cope with the impacts of it.

Just like most developing countries Tanzania is one of the countries that depend on natural resources for the growth of its economy. Rain fed agriculture, mining and tourism are the pillars of Tanzanian economy. Because of the impact of climate change the economy of Tanzania is being threatend and becomes highly vulnerable. In a period of thirty years their has been a steady increase of temperature, and these adverse impacts are felt in all sectors of the economy. In Tanzania food shortage is triggered by effects of climate change, it has poised to undermine national efforts to attain the Millenium Development Goals(MDG?s) and places poverty reduction efforts in jeopardy. Drought and floods among many other disasters are indeed of great concern to Tanzania.

Climate change effects recently in Tanzania have been severe, frequent drought in many parts of the country, less food production, and water scarcity . These have led to food insecurity, food shortage, water scarcity, hunger and shortage of power. In a country with 88.6 million hecters of land suitable for agriculture facing food shortage and hunger would be a dream with reliable rainfall. However climate change effects have affected the agriculture industry so severly.

HOW YOUNG PEOPLE IN TANZANIA COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.

In developing countries the larger population is that of young people, and in tanzania there is a growing number of young people as well, this is a group that  is mostly being affected by climate change in Tanzania. This is because the economy of Tanzania is dependant on its natural resources which due to climate change its has not been doing well hence young people lack employment and their basic needs. Their several ways in which young people have adopted in order to deal with climate change. However some of these ways pose a negative impact on the environment as well.

Urban migration is one of the ways in which young peole have adopted to cope with climate change. The effects are more pronounced in Tanzania rural areas its impact have led to a large number of young people in the villages to flee to cities. In a city like Dar Es Salaam( Tanzanias business capital) it is experiencing a rapid increase of population of young people from rural areas. The population now in Dar es salaam is more than five million people. These population is however destroying the ecosystem. Eruption of diseases due to improper housing, poor waste managment, water scarcity leds to unsafe drinking water and floods caused by poor drainage system in the city and people building houses in water strems. Young people tend to think that migrating in the cities will solve the impacts of climate change they face in their villages but these migration has in fact caused more problem to the environment.

Diversifying source of  income, now young people are not so dependent on natural resources as there source of income, they also engage in other activities like small scale businesses. Young people dont entirely depend on agriculture, tourism, fishing or mining, sometimes they tend to engage themselve on multi economic sources as in one can be involved in crop cultivation and fishing or tour guiding and enterprenurship. This is because climate change has made these sectors not to be reliable sources of income, sometimes it becomes productive but most of the time its unreliable.

In agricuture sector trying different type of crops that cope with the weather are now more common among farmers and the goverment through it various campaigns is promoting short term crop cultivation, using seeds that requeir little rainfall. These is due to the fact that the annual rainfall partten is declining example in nothern  Tanzania, Arusha region annual rainfall declines upto  25%, so it is wise to find crops that will endure a long season without rainfall or littel rain.

Young people themselves have taken initiatives to tackel climate change problems. It is very clear to most young people in Tanzania that climate change is causing poverty reduction a dream. If the goverment and other civil organizations are left to act alone these problem will not be solved so young people have also engaged in the fight, a part from diversification of the economy, and change in agricultural methods young people have also engaged in creating awareness to fellow young people and the community at large about the effectes of climate change how to tackle them, and what to do, to prevent futher damage.  Young people in the tourism sector are shocked by the drastic shrinking of the ice caps of mt. Kilimanjaro, its estimated that about 80% of the snow on mt. Kilimanjaro has disappeared leading to water shortage to local communities living at the feet of the mountain. So young people aroung the mountain region have started a program that aim at preserving the mountain, going against defforestation and promoting mt. Kilimanjaro forest conservation.

Unless we act dramaticaly and quickly our climate is in jeopardy? its no doubt that the goverment of Tanzania is doing everything within its powers and with the help of international oganizations, and developed countries to tackel the effects of climate change, but is it enough? Tanzania is a poor country likely to suffer more from the threat climate change is posing on it. I think its the high time for the world at large  through its various conferences reaches a concensus on how to tackel this problem effectively and think no how to compasate the damage to developing countries.  

Sources

National Adoptation Programme Of Action( NAPA) 2007.

Climate Witness, climate change testimonials from Tanzania 2009.

Tanzania Meteorological Agency ( TMA).