Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Permanent Secretary, Dr Florens Turuka told a multi-stakeholders climate smart agriculture national policy dialogue in Dar es Salaam yesterday that although Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices have been well received in the country, Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are yet to incorporate the same in their District Agriculture Development Programs.
In a presentation made on his behalf by the Ministry’s Head of Environmental Management Unit Shakwaanande Natai, Dr Turuka said:
“In order to have a successful and wider uptake of CSA across Tanzania, some deliberate initiatives to incorporate climate change issues into DADPs have to be taken,” he said.
Dr Turuka also noted that there is need for strong coordination and harmonization of government policies to guard against conflicts and ensure all stakeholders especially from the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, community based organizations and faith based organizations are taken aboard.
The PS added: “While CSA practices have been successful, wider uptake across Tanzania has been a challenge, CSA costs and benefits are not well known, its practices are a low priority in agricultural investment plans”.
She pointed out that priority of CSA is to explore adaptation and mitigation of climate change impact without compromising food security and peoples’ livelihoods.
In her welcoming remarks, Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) Executive Director, Dr Tausi Kida said that in response to current and projected climate change impacts, Tanzania ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1996.
Dr Kida said that Tanzania also made two National Conferences on Climate Change under the UNFCCC in 2003 and 2015 respectively where stakeholders discussed the effects of climate change on food security with special emphasis on vulnerable groups.
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