PROJECT/PROGRAMME PROPOSAL TO THE ADAPTATION FUND PART I: PROJECT/PROGRAMME INFORMATION Project/Programme Category: Regular Project Country/ies: United Republic of Tanzania Title of Project/Programme: Strategic Water Harvesting Technologies for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rural Communities in Semi-Arid Areas of Tanzania (SWAHAT) Type of Implementing Entity: National Implementing Entity (NIE) Implementing Entity: National Environment Management Council (NEMC) Executing Entity/: Sokoine University of Agriculture Amount of Financing Requested 1,280,000 (in U.S Dollars Equivalent) Project Summary The objective of proposed SWAHAT project is enhancing resilience and adaptation of semi arid rural communities to climate change-induced impacts of drought, floods and water scarcity. This will be achieved through strategic water harvesting technologies that will contribute to improved crops, aquaculture and livestock productivity, reforestation as well as combating emerging crops and livestock pests and diseases. The conceptual design of the water harvesting dam has been designed to ensure afforestation of the catchment before the dam thus prevention excessive siltation. The constructed or rehabilitated dams will supply water for all the proposed resilience and adaptation enhancing integrated innovations to be implemented on the semi-arid landscapes. In addition, synergism between aquaculture and agricultural activities will be done to enhance nutrient recycling and improve resource use efficiency. Nursery for fruits and forest trees as well as vegetable gardens will be established and supply seedlings for afforestation and horticulture. Pastureland and animal husbandry infrastructure will be established downstream of the dam for improved productivity and supply of manure for soil fertility improvement. The afforested landscape will integrate apiary units, provide fuel wood and restore habitats for biodiversity conservation. All these integrated approaches will contribute to livelihoods diversification to improve adaptation and resilience capacity to climate change of the semi-arid communities and the surrounding ecosystem. The project will be accomplished through four integrated components for concrete adaptation strategies namely: 1. Installation and rehabilitation of community water harvesting facilities that will integrate agriculture, livestock, tree planting and aquaculture; (Cost 538,510 USD). 1 2. Develop and implement participatory afforestation program for locally adapted fruit and forest trees (Cost 155,020 USD). 3. Develop integrated climate resilient livelihoods diversification through improved technologies in agriculture (Cost 172,920 USD). 4. Formulate and implement interventions for integrated management of emerging climate change related pests and diseases that affect crops and livestock productivity. (Cost 77,685 USD) 1. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Problem The proposed SWAHAT project intends to address the climate change-induced impacts due to drought, floods and water scarcity causing reduction in crops, aquaculture and livestock productivity and forest degradation in semi arid regions in Tanzania Majority of semi arid rural communities live and derive their economy from a rural agrarian setting. Climate change has come with devastating effects on agriculture in the semi arid areas leading to drought, floods and water scarcity causing direct consequence on social, economic, gender and environment. As a result, food availability, natural resource utilisation and income generation by the vulnerable semi arid communities is severely affected. The government and donor community is obliged to set aside large sums of budget to support such communities for food as well as financing various socio economic needs such as food aid, education, health and water supply. This call for concrete climate change adaptation interventions that will enhance resilience of the vulnerable communities in the semi arid rural dwellers. The project will be implemented in drought and flood prone semi arid regions of central and western Tanzania1 particularly Dodoma, Singida, and Tabora. Among the key climate change related impacts affecting communities living in the in these semi-arid regions is water scarcity. Water scarcity is therefore the major driver of vulnerability to climate change. Lack of water resulting from drought, damaged landscapes and loss through floods leads into crop failure and famine, reduced livestock productivity, loss of land cover, drying of natural water bodies and other surface and ground water and limited access of water for domestic uses. As a result most of the semiarid rural community faces limited or lack of livelihoods diversification for adaptation to impacts of climate change. In the semi arid areas, copping strategies for adaptation to water scarcity is done by few dedicated farmers who dig small pits (<3 m diameter; < 2m deep) and small ponds for tapping surface run-off water to be used for irrigating vegetables in small plots, livestock drinking and domestic use (cooking and washing). In addition, there exist borrow pits as left overs of excavation from road construction activities. These borrow pits have proved to be useful sources of water to the local communities. They support to a small scale, irrigation of crops, drinking points for livestock, save as spontaneous fish and other aquatic habitat and domestic water supply (Figure 2). However, these borrow pits as well as the dug pits and ponds are small often polluted and contaminated and not strategically designed to cater for multiple and integrated activities effective for enhancing adaptive and resilience capabilities of affected semi arid communities to climate change. The proposed schematic water harvesting and integrated innovations design (Figure 1) is based on the existing utilization of left over roadside borrow pits, over 60 years old water harvesting dams, small water pits and local ponds that have proved to accommodate agriculture, livestock and domestic needs although very insufficiently due to inadequate capacity of the infrastructure as well as people’s skills and knowledge on management and utilization of the scarce water resources. 1 Yanda et al. (2015). Tanzania: Country Situation Assessment. Working paper. Research for Climate-Resilient Futures. Pathways to Resilience in Semi Arid Economies (PRISE) Project. 47pp. 2 Innovative climate change adaptation technologies for crop and livestock production, aquaculture, horticulture and afforestation that are tailored to the local conditions are highly dependent on long term and reliable water availability. The vulnerable rural communities of semi arid areas have the will to sustain their livelihood through engagement in one or more of these innovative technologies, but they are constrained by lack of reliable water supply due to dependency on rain-fed agriculture and impacts of climate change. The proposed schematic design (Figure 1) for water harvesting technologies that incorporate integrated interventions will enhance sustainable adaptation and resilience to climate change. Figure 1 : Schematic representation of the project concept (Source FAO). This project concept (Figure 1) has proved successful in Vietnam, China, India and a few countries in sub- Saharan Africa 234. In addition, the project design is tailored to validate and upscale the success of the left over roadside dams/ borrow pits (Figure 2) in order to implement integrated innovative interventions for adaptation and resilience to climate change of the vulnerable rural communities of semi arid regions. The conceptual design of the water harvesting dams has been designed to ensure afforestation of the catchment before the dam thus prevention excessive siltation. The installed dams will supply water for all the proposed resilience and adaptation-integrated innovations to be implemented on the semi-arid landscapes. In addition, synergism between aquaculture and agricultural activities will enhance nutrient recycling and improve resource use efficiency. Nursery for fruits and forest trees as well as vegetable gardens will be established and supply seedlings for afforestation and horticulture. Pastureland and animal husbandry facilities will be established downstream of the dams and will, in addition to improve livestock productivity; supply manure for soil fertility improvement. The afforested landscape will integrate apiary units, provide fuel wood and restore habitats for biodiversity conservation. All these integrated approaches will contribute to livelihoods diversification to ensure adaptation and resilience to climate change. Main goal of the proposed SWAHAT project is focused on enhancing resilience of rural community to climate change-induced challenges of drought, floods and high temperatures in semi arid regions of Tanzania for improved agricultural, aquaculture and livestock productivity, forest restoration and combating emergence of climate change related pests and diseases. 2 Brummett, R.E., 1999. Integrated aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Environment Development and Sustainability 1, 315–321. 3 De Silva, S.S and Davy, F.B., 2010. Success Stories in Asian Aquaculture, Springer, Dordrecht 4 Lu, J.B. and Li, X., 2006. Review of rice–fish–farm systems in China — the Globally Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Aquaculture 260, 106–113. 3 Figure 2:. Representative of model services provided by road construction borrow pits as remnant dams left from road construction along side