Initiative to enhance climate resilience in rural communities

in the country through innovation and collaboration.

The initiative dubbed “Building an Adaptation Innovation Cluster in Tanzania” focuses on increasing resilience and sustainable development by supporting locally developed adaptation solutions for rural communities, which includes creating an enabling environment that promotes climate innovations, and stimulates new green start-up growth, employment, and investment.

EIT Climate-KIC Communications Manager, Henriëtte de Wit, said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday evening that currently, a gap exists in ensuring that adaptation solutions reach the most vulnerable rural communities effectively and that these solutions take root within the communities.

“To address this, it is crucial to enhance the capacity of smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change. Climate risks have the potential to worsen poverty levels and deepen food insecurity, particularly in agriculture-dependent households.

This involves an ongoing process of gathering and learning from local knowledge and experiences, as well as exploring the dynamics between local communities and the private sector and thereby providing the local communities with the vital tools needed for adaptation resilience,” she said.

She added that the cluster approach is when groups of people from different backgrounds, locations, and sectors, share a common purpose and come together to become “more than just the sum of their parts”.

“This is because when there is knowledge sharing, learning, networking, and connection, there is potential for many more ideas and solutions than was possible before coming together,” she said.

Speaking during the event to officially introduce the initiative, Youth and Women Development Assistant Director, Mophat Mapunda, noted that one of the ways to address the challenges of climate change is to sensitize the public on simple but effective alternative cooking energy.

“Communities mostly use firewood and charcoal for cooking and it has been that way for many since our forefathers and yet the fuel increases heat and smoke pollution thus a need to be innovative when using such energy for cooking,” he said.

He said that one innovative way is to ensure that heat and smoke emissions are reduced by pruning trees and using sticks instead of felling whole trees and using logs to make the world a safer place and mitigate climate change effects.

Laurel Kivuyo, Founder and Director of Climate Hub Tanzania, said that in addressing the challenges of climate change, among their activities include sensitizing the youth about the problem.

“We also engage in different projects that are focused on recycling of waste and in the process help generate revenues,” she added.

For his part, Sahara Ventures Chief Executive Officer, Jumanne Mtambalike, said that one of their main roles in the project is to help nurture innovative ideas that will lead to adaptation of climate change challenges.

EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate agency and community which supports cities, regions, and countries, and industries to bridge the gap between climate commitments and current reality. The innovation adaptation cluster initiative is financed by the Government of Ireland through Irish Aid and is locally being implemented in collaboration with Sahara Ventures.