CREATING A FRAMEWORK FOR NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN AFRICA: EXPERIENCES FROM WETLAND FRIENDLY INVESTMENT STRATEGY IN TANZANIA

Abstract

Loss of biodiversity and food insecurity due to wetlands degradation is a significant problem in many parts of Africa. Changes in land use and climate are among the major drivers for these losses. In light of growing threats to these services, the Government of Tanzania introduced a number of interventions to address the problem. However, little is known about how local communities that adopted a Wetlands Friendly Investments (WFI) strategy could be used to address the problem and ultimately develop a tool for managing natural resources in the future. This paper provides factors that constrained the implementation of the WFI strategy and examines those which could be used to create a tool for natural resources management in Tanzania. Data were collected from 208 randomly selected heads of households from five villages in Ndembera Valley using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics through cross-tabulation in SPSS version 20 was used in the data analysis. Findings showed that groups’ dissolution and poor decision-making have constrained the implementation of the strategy. Improving the flow of information and timing in decision-making is significant in the creation of the framework for community natural resources management in the area.