Research offers solutions to Tanzania's land crisis
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Researchers at Aga Khan University's Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre are showing how applied research can help Tanzania address its land crisis, as experts warn more than 80% of the country's land is degraded.
Tanzania's land is increasingly becoming an economic asset under pressure, as climate change, population growth, expanding agriculture and weak spatial planning collide to raise the cost of doing business and threaten livelihoods.
Experts cite that more than 80% of Tanzania's land is now classified as degraded, compared with 42% in 1980, while mainland Tanzania loses an estimated 469,420 hectares of forest annually. The government's own environmental analysis identifies unsustainable agriculture, livestock keeping, mining, fires and tree cutting among the major drivers of degradation.
Researchers at the Aga Khan University's Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre (AKU-ACER) are demonstrating how applied research can help close this gap by taking science beyond academic papers and into communities.
The director of AKU-ACER, Dr Emmanuel Sulle, said researchers must look at environmental challenges through both scientific evidence and local knowledge, adding that combining scientific evidence with indigenous knowledge is critical for Tanzania to withstand the growing shocks of climate change.
That approach is particularly important in landscapes where farmers, pastoralists, conservation interests and investors compete for the same resources.