Morogoro. More than five years ago, pastoralists in a remote village of Lungongole in Morogoro region, Eastern Tanzania were highly motivated to increase their livestock. By that time, it was easy to access water and pastures for their livestock. 

Elizabeth Makungu, a 47 years old pastoralist in the village told us that they were grazing their livestock a few meters from their homes. However, now everything has changed. 

“Since I moved to this village in 2005, there used to be rivers and water streams flowing nearby, but now the environment has been destroyed, and the water channels have diminished,” Elizabeth Said

Currently, due to shortage of water and pastures they have to move their livestock to the grazing land that is designated by the government that is far from their homes. 

The current situation has highly been influenced by the ever decline in water sources, caused by unpredictable rainfall in Kilombero district and neighboring areas. 

Elizabeth, who owns six cows, told Nukta Habari  that they are forced to camp in the grazing land during the dry season because it is only an area with assured food and water for their livestock. 

Nearly all pastoralists, she explained, cannot move their livestock from their homes to the grazing areas daily because they are too far and constrained by farms.

Elizabeth, a mother of three, said climate change has done all and it is not affecting their livestock alone. Some family members are also forced to stay in the designated forest to ensure their animals are safe. 

Elizabeth Makungu, a 47 years old pastoralist in the village speaking with Nukta Habari Journalit Daniel Samson. Photol Esau Ng’umbi

The shortage of water and grazing lands is affecting nearly all pastoralists in Elizabeth’s village and neighboring districts. Most of them have many herds and rarely settle in one place. 

This problem has led to more loss to the locals. Some have lost their livestock due to diseases and water shortage, affecting the majority who depend on livestock keeping for their livelihood. 

To ensure sustainability of their economic activities, pastoralists here are using Mkombei dam, a small naturally-created water body in the village as drinking stations. This dam is used by fishers and other locals for domestic purposes. 

Kulwa Mwita, a 31-year old pastoralist in Lungongole village said due to high demand of water sometimes the dam, which has been designated by the government for livestock keeping and fishers, cannot sustain all the animals around.

For Mwita, who owns more than 100 livestock including cows and goats, there has been an increase in water usage from the dam, threatening its sustainability. He is worried if the dry spells persist for long, they are likely to lose the dam as well, ending their most dependable economic activity. 

Nukta Habari had ground conversation with other users of the dam whose majority are highly worried that it will disappear in the future. 

Issa Abdallah, a fisherman who uses the dam frequently, told Nukta  that so far users are increasing by the day for different economic usage and no one owns the water body amid initial plans that it was meant for pastoralists and fishers.  

He said the dam will dry in the future if there will be no strict measures to manage it well due to ever increasing the number of livestock available in the area and failure to mitigate climate change inducing activities.

The animals have already destroyed parts of the banks of the dam and prolonged dry spells have contributed highly to lower water levels.

Historical satellite images derived from Google Earth shows the dam water levels have decreased over time in the last five years especially during the dry season. 

“The dam is drying up, and the main reason is that when the livestock step on the ground, they erode soil into the dam. This reduces water levels due to decline in the dam depth,” Abdallah explained.

According to the Lungongole village executive officer Dickson Balua his village has more than 2,950 livestock where nearly three quarters are cows, the number  which is highly likely to increase in the due course. 

Balua said the available livestock in the village is17 times larger than the current capacity of 176 animals, posing more pressure on water resources to pastoralists amid ongoing impacts of climate change. 

“We have more than 2,000 livestock in our village, and you can see how the livestock population has increased here. This is what causes pastoralists to move out of the designated area and, sometimes, bring their livestock into farms,” Barua Said.

In recent years Tanzania has witnessed an increase in the number of livestock apart from Kilombero district where Elizabeth and Mwita are residing despite growing threats of climate change. 

The area where livestock keepers from Lugongole village are requesting the government to build a water trough for their livestock. This location is also where a cattle dip is being constructed, but it remains incomplete due to a lack of funds. Photo l Esau Ng’umbi

While the increase in livestock is highly likely to bring more money and widen economic opportunities to pastoralists, the excessive number has an environmental impact including destruction of water sources. 

Data from the 2019/20 National Sample Census of Agriculture showed that the number of livestock in Tanzania nearly doubled within 10 years to 157.8 million in 2019/20 from 88.5 million in 2007/2008.

The report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the increase in livestock will continue to affect the environment especially at the moment where the majority of farmers and pastoralists are starting to experience climate change impacts. 

This is pushing for changes in policies that provide land for livestock feeding areas.

Some of the pastoralists in Lungongole village said the current water shortage for livestock is also caused by lack of proper distribution of land among groups in the area, pushing them to move from one place to another in search of pastures and water. 

One of the livestock keepers in the village, Alama Kidaha said initially they had a large grazing land but it was later reduced by the government to 176 hectares, failing to meet the needs despite their efforts to reduce the size of their animals by opting on modernizing livestock farming. 

Kidaha, who owns 40 cows, said as time goes on the pressure in using the Mkombei dam by different groups is increasing and reduction in grazing land will lead to severe water shortages. Pastoralists said the dam was given to them as livestock watering points. 

“We have reduced the livestock population, nothing has increased recently. The grazing land has been reduced while the use of water from the dam has increased because of the prolonged drought. By November, the water becomes dirty, and we’re left giving the livestock only muddy water,” Kidaha insisted.

According to the Lungongole village executive officer Dickson Balua his village has more than 2,950 livestock where nearly three quarters are cows, the number  which is highly likely to increase in the due course. Photo l Esau Ng’umbi

But village leadership said it is not true that the Mkombei dam was authorised to be used by pastoralists alone but instead for everyone in the village while increasing protection of water resources through collaboration between users to minimise conflicts. 

“There is no specific dam for watering livestock. That dam is located in the farming area, and it’s a place where everyone uses the water, including pastoralists, fishermen, and farmers for irrigating their fields,” responded Balua. 

The search for water and pastures has triggered conflict between pastoralists and farmers. Farmers accuse pastoralists that they are destroying their produce when moving animals from their homes to grazing lands. 

The Lungongole Village Chairman, Samweli Madulu said the local authority’s decision to reduce the grazing land was reached during the village meetings and by the time farmers were more than pastoralists. 

The village has 3,011.3 hectares set for farming and livestock keeping but pastoralists have been given only 176 hectares for grazing, equivalent to 6% of the total land size. 

Madulu said pastoralists and fishers should worry about the pressure on using the dam and should the uses increase more than now, they will take the agenda to the village meetings for decision making. 

“According to the village land-use plan, the Mkombei dam was not designated for farm irrigation. The agreement in place is that the dam is meant for livestock watering and fishing. If someone wants to use water from the dam for farm irrigation, we are not aware of it, this is because we operate according to the village guidelines we have established,” Madulu said.

Tanzania’s livestock policy 2006 says the water shortages for livestock are experienced across the country due to poor knowledge and skills in harvesting rainfall, high costs in digging dams and construction tools, uneven distribution of water resources and weakness of community water committees. 

The policy instructs the government and other stakeholders to ensure water sources are well protected for livestock and other human activities. 

Water and agricultural stakeholders are monitoring the water shortage crisis in the Lungongole village and other areas in Tanzania to ensure availability of lasting solutions. 

Shahidi wa Maji Executive Director, Abel Dugange during an interview with Nukta Habari Journalist Daniel Samson. Photo l Esau Ng’umbi

Shahidi wa Maji Executive Director, Abel Dugange told Nukta  that they have been educating the communities and building capacity to pastoralists in the village so that they can understand their rights and responsibilities in protecting water resources.

The education, he said, has helped pastoralists in the village to fight for their rights and collaborate with other groups in the community in ensuring equitable distribution of water resources.

Dugange said there is a deep connection between water shortage and livestock development therefore pastoralists should be involved and their issues must be prioritized on policy development and laws enactment.

“Water resource management issues start from the international level, then regional, national, and finally down to the local level. First, we must have guidelines that are accurate, inclusive, and require everyone’s participation. 

Looking at Tanzania, the country has made efforts, especially in terms of guidelines. We have integrated water resource management plans. If you go to the water basins and the ministry level, you will find plans that require all sectors to fully participate in water conservation. This could be the first step at the national level to solve water challenges,” Dugange said.

The Vision for the Livestock Sector endorsed by stakeholders in April 2001 aimed that by 2025, Tanzania will largely comprise modern and sustainable livestock farming, with improved livestock breeds, high productivity, commercial operations, and that contributes to improving the nutrition of Tanzanians, increasing the income of livestock farmers and the nation, and conserving the environment.

Lungongole Village Executive Officer, Dickson Balua, says they are aware of the water challenge and existing challenges in scrambles and have begun taking various steps, including seeking partners to assist them in building livestock watering infrastructure, for which they have already set aside land.

“The village has a plan to build livestock water stations, but right now, the pastoralists are watering their animals in the rivers and the dams,” Balua added.

Local authorities said the pastoralists from Kilombero district are suffering from water shortage, adding that the problem is extending more far from Lungongole village. 

Ifakara township District Livestock Officer, Dr Dunia Mlanzi told us that the government is currently drilling water wells and building livestock drinking stations to ensure adequate supply of water.  

“Our council started in 2022/2023 to construct dipping vats for bathing livestock. These vats are in the final stages of completion. Additionally, we will dig a deep well and build livestock water stations,” Dunia explained.

However, the realisation of planned activities in all affected areas has been hit with financial constraints. 

Mlanzi said they are currently educating pastoralists to reduce the number of livestock and start keeping by using modern techniques which aims to increase productivity and do more business.

“We at the district council are committed to providing education to pastoralists about the importance of managing livestock according to the land availability ability. For those with a large number of livestock, we encourage them to reduce their herds and invest in other areas,” Dunia Said.

This story is written by Daniel Samson and Esau Ng’umbi