Farmers News From Tanzania - Billions Sought to Allay Climate Change Effects on Agriculture

Tanzania needs approximately USD 500 million (831.5bn/-) to help farmers overcome impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity yet only USD 20m (33.3bn/-) has been obtained.

The revelation was made by Deputy Director on Climate Change (Vice President’s Office) Richard Muyungi yesterday in Dar es Salaam when opening a two day National Workshop on Climate Change and Agriculture themed: ‘Sharing Evidence and Experience on Climate Agriculture-Smart Agriculture in Tanzania.’

Muyungi said there is need to educate farmers on Climate Change threats and mitigation methods as well as to put up early warning systems that will help them cope with the changing climate.

Detailing on the needed funds, he said the collected USD 20m is from European countries but remained optimistic that the balance – nearly 800bn/- will be realized.

 “The funds that we have collected are set aside to deal with effects of climate change on agriculture and will also help in providing education to farmers,” he said cautioning that climate change will keep on challenging the world at large as never before if no measures are taken. 

Muyungi said among mitigation efforts include reduction of carbon emission and increasing agricultural activities.

 “The issue of climate change touches the economic and social life of the people but we can use agricultural activities like having a variety of crops to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he noted.

On her part, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Senior Natural Resources Officer Dr Kaisa Karttunen explained that the aim of the workshop is to share experiences and discuss ways to combat climate change through agriculture.

“Tanzania needs to find better ways to adapt to climatic change especially through agriculture,” she urged.

“This can be done by closely working with farmers on different and better farming methods,” she added.

The two day workshop is organised by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations under its Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture Programme (MICCA), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and CARE International Tanzania.

It has brought together a cross section of agricultural sector stakeholders to share experiences and results from various climate changes related projects and programmes.

SOURCE:   http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=73215