Tanzania is taking significant steps to combat climate change impacts, particularly in flood-prone areas like Dar es Salaam.
The Msimbazi Basin Development Project, funded by the World Bank, aims to transform vulnerable zones into climate-resilient urban parks, relocating residents to safer areas.
This initiative is part of broader national efforts to integrate climate adaptation into development plans.
In Jangwani, Dar es Salaam, an impoverished neighbourhood where the Msimbazi River snakes through crowded shacks and tangled mangroves, heavy rains routinely trigger floods and mass displacement.
Jangwani resident Teresia Katimba shuddered with horror on revisiting the events of a humid night when the swollen Msimbazi River had breached its banks again, turning her cramped house, perched precariously near the riverbank, into a pool of misery.
Murky floodwater — mixed with sewage, plastic bottles,and garbage — poured in relentlessly into her house, soaking mattresses and spoiling everything from maize flour to charcoal and dried sardines, as her children huddled around her in prayer.
“I don’t want to remember the suffering we went through. We survived by the grace of God. The loss was unspeakably heavy,” Katimba recalled.
For years, slum dwellers in Dar es Salaam lived in fear of rain. With every downpour came disease, displacement and despair.
But today, Katimba breathes easier. In 2024, she was among hundreds of residents relocated to Madale, a higher-ground neighbourhood, under the $200 million World Bank–funded Msimbazi Basin Development Project. She received compensation and built a modest home in the dry, forested area about 39 kilometres from the city centre.
“We’re very happy to be here,” she said, smiling outside her new home. “There’s no floodwater to worry about. We have peace now.”
With a population of 5.8 million, Dar es Salaam is one of Africa’s fastest-growing — and most flood-prone — cities. Nearly 70 per cent of its residents live in informal settlements on flood-vulnerable terrain.
In 2018 alone, flooding in the Msimbazi Basin inflicted more than $100 million in damage, nearly 2 per cent of the city’s GDP, according to the World Bank.
But for the first time, the city is tackling the menace head-on. The Msimbazi Basin Development Project, running through 2028, targets the city’s lower river basin — home to 330,000 people — and seeks to transform one of Africa’s most flood-vulnerable zones into a green, climate-resilient urban park.
The initiative includes river dredging, terracing, new drainage infrastructure and a complete overhaul of the Jangwani Bridge and bus depot. Displaced residents like Katimba are being resettled on safer land with compensation.
“This project was conceived after the floods in February 2018, which were very devastating,” said John Morton, a project manager at the World Bank. “The then vice president — now the president — convened all the agencies and said, ‘Please come up with a solution for Msimbazi’.”
That call led to the creation of the Msimbazi Opportunity Plan — a comprehensive roadmap to restore the degraded basin and build resilience. The plan is now being implemented with concessional financing from the International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank Group.
“IDA credits are concessional,” Morton explained. “They’re low- or no-interest loans, with a long grace period and a long repayment schedule.”
“We’re dredging the river, building new drainage systems, and turning floodplains into safe green spaces,” he added. “It’s about turning adversity into opportunity.”
Tanzania is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, grappling with rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and more frequent floods that threaten food security, infrastructure and lives. With over 70 per cennt of the population relying on rain-fed agriculture, the country’s economic backbone is increasingly exposed to climate shocks.
In cities like Dar es Salaam, flash floods routinely displace thousands, while rural communities endure prolonged droughts and shrinking water sources. As these impacts intensify, the government is ramping up climate adaptation efforts — from relocating flood-prone residents to scaling up resilient farming and securing international climate finance. But limited resources, weak coordination, and capacity gaps continue to hinder progress.
In the parched village of Ikungi, Singida, 54-year-old maize farmer Baraka Mussa squints at the sky, waiting for clouds that never come. “We used to know when to plant,” he said. “Now the rains play tricks on us.”
“As rivers dry up and soils erode, our livelihoods hang by a thread,” said Fatma Sudi, a climate governance expert at the environment division in the Vice President’s Office.
“We are facing more frequent and intense floods, erratic rainfall, and rising temperatures,” she said. “Our economy is bleding from climate shocks.”
In response, Tanzania has adopted a range of adaptation initiatives. The National Climate Change Response Strategy (2021-2026), paired with updated Nationally Determined Contributions, aims to integrate climate action into every development sector.
“We’re embedding climate action into all major development plans,” said Sudi. “From agriculture to infrastructure, the aim is climate-proofing our economy.”
A key effort is the Tanzania Agriculture Climate Adaptation Technology Deployment Programme, supported by the Green Climate Fund. It has reached over 1.24 million smallholder farmers with drought-tolerant seeds, conservation agriculture, and water-saving irrigation.
Meanwhile, the Local Climate Finance Initiative (LoCAL) by UNCDF is channeling performance-based grants to district councils to support climate-resilient infrastructure — from livestock shelters to improved water systems.
Along the coast, ecosystem-based adaptation efforts in Zanzibar, Pangani and Bagamoyo have restored mangroves, built seawalls and relocated salinised wells to help thousands cope with erosion and rising seas.
“We don’t just sit and wait for rain anymore,” said Gloria Meena, a farmer in Ruvu. “We listen to the radio and learn what to do.”
Meena is among thousands of farmers tuning into Heka-Heka Vijijini, a weekly programme on MoshiFM. It educates onion and rice farmers on how to adapt to erratic weather using crop rotation, irrigation and soil conservation.
“This programme changed how I farm,” said Paulina Ndauka. “Before, I didn’t know how to prevent soil erosion. Now, my farm is safer.”
For extension officers like Onesmo Mbaga, the radio show is a game changer. “It allows us to reach thousands of farmers at once,” he said. “People now build reservoirs and time their planting better.”
Tanzania has secured nearly $786 million in concessional climate financing from the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility and other donors. But this falls far short of the $1.9 billion needed annually for comprehensive adaptation.
“The gap is huge,” warned Edmund Mabhuye, head of the Centre for Climate Change Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. “And without reliable data and trained personnel, many districts can’t even draft meaningful adaptation plans.”
A lack of coordination, corruption and bureaucratic delays further hinder implementation. “Funds get stuck, and the people who need help the most never see the benefits,” he shared.
Still, progress is being made. The 2025/26 national budget allocates nearly 25 percent of agricultural development funding to irrigation and adaptation.
Despite strong national policies, execution remains uneven. “We still fly blind in many areas,” said Mabhuye. “Even the best policies are useless without local knowledge and commitment.”
In rural wards, climate planning often takes a back seat to immediate political or economic concerns. “We need to change mindsets from the village up,” he said. “Adaptation must be everyone’s business.”
Tanzania is working with neighbours through platforms like the African Adaptation Initiative and the East African Community Climate Change Strategy, enabling shared research, joint planning and pooled resources.
“Climate change knows no borders,” Mabhuye said. “We need regional solidarity to protect our ecosystems and our economies.”
One such project is the Transboundary Water Adaptation Programme, which is building climate-resilient catchments in the Lake Victoria Basin, a lifeline for millions across East Africa.
Back in Dar es Salaam, the Msimbazi Valley is changing fast. Bulldozers clear debris, engineers reinforce riverbanks and community leaders work with planners to design flood-tolerant neighbourhoods. “It’s a turning point,” said Sylvia Macchi, an urban resilience expert. “If we get it right, this could be a model for all African cities.”
As the sun sets, children now play in fields where floodwaters once raged. For residents like Katimba, the future no longer feels like a threat. “We don’t worry anymore when it rains,” she said. “We plant, we pray and we survive.”
In the face of a warming world, Tanzania is crafting a bold blueprint for climate resilience — one that blends science, tradition, finance, and local wisdom. It’s a story of struggle, but also of strength — a nation battered by climate change, now daring to thrive.