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Titel |
Linking hydrology of traditional irrigation canals and socio-economic aspects of agricultural water use around Mt. Kilimanjaro |
VerfasserIn |
Jerome Kimaro, Valeska Scharsich, Bernd Huwe, Christina Bogner |
Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2017
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Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
en
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Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 19 (2017) |
Datensatznummer |
250150861
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Publikation (Nr.) |
EGU/EGU2017-15379.pdf |
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Zusammenfassung |
Traditional irrigation network around Mt. Kilimanjaro has been an important resource for
both ecosystem functioning and agricultural production. However, a number of irrigation
furrows can no longer maintain their discharge throughout the year and their future
sustainability is uncertain. The actual efforts to improve the water supply were unsuccessful.
We attribute this failure to a lack of information about the actual causes and extent of the
problem. We suppose that there is a strong link between the socio-economic aspects like
institutional and community management of the furrows and conflicts about water
use.
Therefore, we conducted a study to determine the relationship between current
hydrological patterns and socio-economic aspects of agricultural water use. We measured
discharge at 11 locations along an altitudinal gradient on the southern slopes of Mt.
Kilimanjaro. Additionally, we conducted focus group discussions with participants from 15
villages and key informants interviews (n = 15).
We found that the mean discharge did not differ significantly between dry and rainy
seasons (ANOVA, p = 0.17). The overall discharge pattern indicated that furrows located in
lower altitude had higher mean monthly discharge rate of 65 l s−1 compared to 11.5 l s−1 at
the source area of the canals. This is due to the convergence of canals downstream. 41% of
furrows were seasonal, 22% dry and only 37% perennial.
Despite of a seemingly better water resource availability downstream, water conflicts are
a major challenge across the whole mountain communities. Key informants and group
discussions reported poor management of water on the district level. The Rural Moshi and
Hai District Councils operate on a top down approach that give less power to the local water
management committees. However, the latter have been an important part of the
traditional management system for decades. Since 1990, the district authorities are using
65% of springs from the catchment to abstract water for 8 big gravity pipe water
projects for urban areas, for example. This abstraction of water amplifies several
conflicts over water use between smallholder farmers, smallholder farmers and
large irrigation schemes and between farmers and non-agricultural water users
downstream.
Furthermore, encroachments in the Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park were reported. In
particular, forest communities adjacent to the park are involved in illegal activities like
logging, grazing, cultivation and cutting firewood. Since most irrigation furrow start in the
park, ongoing forest disturbances could have direct impact on their hydrology. We attribute
those encroachments to poverty, low environmental awareness, poor land tenure system and a
lack of an effective forest patrol.
To resolve water use conflicts around Mt. Kilimanjaro, good governance practices
including improved water distribution and resource management is required. This could
be achieved through an integrated water resources management approach where
both traditional and formal management institutions should work synergetically. |
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