Tanzania's Water Troubles: Battling Over a Precious Resource
Water insecurity was identified as the World Economic Forum's top long-term risk to mankind in 2015. There are three categories of water-related conflicts: water as a trigger, weapon or casualty of conflicts.
Let’s look at few cases of water as a trigger of conflict in Tanzania where 61% of the population has access to at least basic drinking water.
The first incident is a conflict between rural and urban populations in the Pangani Basin. This conflict arose from rapid urbanization and increased demand for water resources from urban dwellers, which put strain on existing water resources and threatened the livelihoods of rural communities. After much deliberation, and negotiations between stakeholders, a compromise was reached which allowed for an equitable distribution of water resources among both urban and rural populations. The agreement gave limited access to water resources to urban dwellers while guaranteeing enough water supplies for the needs of rural communities. The second one happened in the same location where a group of pastoralists was attacked while attempting to access a water point in the region. It describes how the police intervened and arrested the attackers, preventing further hostilities. Last one was a violent conflict in the Kibirashi village (Kilindi district in the Tanga region) in February 2022. The dispute was also between rural and urban communities and led to 6 deaths. The lack of clarity in legal and regulatory frameworks for water resources management, as well as mistrust between different groups caused the escalation of violence.
In all cases, the conflicts are fuelled from competition over scarce resources. Indeed, water scarcity is the ‘shortage in the availability of renewable freshwater relative to demand’. But a resource management issue, rather than inherent water shortage, prevails in many countries. The right to water can be hampered by political hurdles, based on competing self-interests. According to the 'Tragedy of the Commons,' individuals of a community act in their self-interest, seeking best return from a shared resource, which exhausts it as consumption and population increase. Tanzania is observing rapid population growth and suffering from the effects of climate change which put further pressure on water resources.
While it is true that water can be an important causal factor in conflicts, we have to be careful about alarmists comment about “water wars” and generalisation. Not all conflicts are caused solely or directly by water scarcity. It is critical to understand the many interconnected elements that turn a water-related concern into a security risk. They include access to resources, poverty, climate change and unequal power dynamics. Likewise, when water is a main trigger, tensions don’t necessarily lead to violence. Socio-cultural and economic contexts should be understood to know why irrigators engage in conflicts. It is the marginalization and poverty that proved significative when looking at root causes of violence.
Sometimes, political management and distribution systems are more to blame for water stress than the commons. Thus, cooperation between communities and governments is essential. Some cases have shown that informal bargaining processes can lead to better outcomes in both rural and urban populations. The Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF), led by civil society, established dialogue to resolve conflicts between pastoralists, farmers and wildlife conservationists over land use. In the Pawaga division (Iringa District), the TNRF allowed communities to identify corruption among their local officials, and to participate in policy making. Indeed, forms of institutional pluralism help promote decision-making creativity and minimize conflicts.
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