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| Tuesday, 11 May 2010 14:26 |
 By Lucas LigangaClimate change is one of the most important issues on the global political and economic agenda, yet Tanzania’s response to climate change will be dictated by how well it is understood by its people. However, a new research entitled Tanzania Talks Climate looks at the current understanding of climate change, and provides recommendations on how policy makers, scientists, and others can better communicate with the people. It is hoped that through findings of the research, people such as the media and the government will be better able to reach out to the people of Tanzania and provide them with the information they need to help each other and help themselves. The research was conducted in Tanzania from August to October 2009 by the BBC World Service Trust’s Research and Learning Group, on behalf of the British Council, to gauge public understanding of climate change. The research consisted of 12 focus-group discussions with Tanzanian citizens, as well as 17 in-depth interviews with opinion leaders from government, religious institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society. The overall objective was to find out what people think about climate change, and to determine how to tailor communication and media strategies to support Tanzania’s response to climate change. The research launched in Dar es Salaam last week by the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Ms Diane Corner, has shown that public awareness and understanding of global climate change is low in Tanzania. “Climate change terminology is poorly understood and its translation in Kiswahili does not convey its global causes or context,” says the 27-page research. More Tanzanians recognise that their climate is changing than they are aware of the term ‘climate change’, says the research, adding: “Climate change is often literally interpreted to mean ‘changes in weather’.” At the same time, the research reveals that Tanzanian opinion leaders are struggling to provide leadership on climate change. They need to know more about climate change in order to communicate confidently on the issue and incorporate mitigation and adaptation strategies into their decision making, it says. “Although the media, together with schools, are the main source of information on climate change for the general public, there is evidence to suggest that media lacks sufficient knowledge to effectively inform audiences about change and facilitate public discussion,” says the research. Firstly, it suggests that the media has a critical role to play in providing information on climate change and supporting others to do so, including governments, national and international non-governmental organisations, scientists, religious leaders and community leaders. Secondly, the media needs to facilitate public debate because Tanzania is being affected by climate change, and internally driven, relevant debate on the issue is essential. Thirdly, debate can increase accountability, enabling citizens to exert pressure on their own governments with respect to climate change policies, adaptation funding, technology transfer, emissions reduction and other response strategies. “Only when Tanzanian citizens are fully informed about, and able to debate climate change, will they begin to influence the national and international climate change policies and processes which affect their lives,” says the research. Deodatus Mfugale, chairman of Journalists’ Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET), says the report gives a sobering account of climate change, stressing that extreme weather events and greater unpredictability of weather patterns are straining the livelihoods of poor communities as they have a direct impact on water, land and forests, among others. “Yet there is no cause for frustration as there are options which people can take in order to cope with the situation but the problem is that they have no clear information about these options,” he says. Mfugale adds that the research thus throws the challenge to the Tanzanian media to help communities to adapt by providing them with accurate and timely information so that they can take action based on informed decisions. “Unfortunately the media is not doing its duty because it does not give climate change priority in its reporting, which is still event based, sporadic, superficial and does not address the urgency for adaptation,” says the JET chairman. Mfugale says the report thus calls for a revolution in the Tanzanian media that would see journalists scaling up the quality and quantity of climate change reporting. Hannah Cowin, British Council Climate Change Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, says the Africa Talks Climate series is a ground-breaking piece of work, the first and only piece of research produced by an independent, non-affiliated organisation and looking into the public perception of climate change across Sub Saharan Africa. “I believe that the Tanzania Talks Climate report could prove vital to the Tanzanian people, in that the report exposes the problems and difficulties that everyday Tanzanian has with climate change and aims to help professionals communicate the information to the public,” she says. Cowin adds: “Climate change is a huge issue which is already having a tangible impact on every aspect of our daily lives, from agriculture to economy, from transport to health.” She says people every day in Tanzania and across Africa are feeling the effects of climate change on their crops, their farms, and their family's health, adding that they may be unaware, however, of the cause of these problems. She says one of the major challenges faced by the public is a severe lack of information, and this is a serious issue. “How can a person strive to tackle problems and improve their livelihoods without understanding the reasons for the changes or the causes of the problems?” she asks. In order to respond effectively to the challenges facing Tanzanian society it is essential that people are given the information they need in a way they can understand, says Cowin. The Climate Change Manager says this will empower them to take action to improve their lives. Jason Rubens, Programme Coordinator for Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Seascape Programme under the auspices of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Tanzania Programme Office, says the research is valuable. “... it highlights the scale of the challenges facing us, of communicating the complexity of climate change to the people of Tanzania, so that they may understand its causes and determine for themselves the best way to respond over time,” he says. Rubens adds that the research shows that the great majority of people in Tanzania are not aware of the global dimension of climate change, nor do they yet have a common Kiswahili terminology by which to discuss the issue clearly. He says the media will have a major role to play in addressing this challenge, together with people with a technical understanding about climate change from both the government and non-government sectors. Launching the research, the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Ms Diane Corner, pledged her government’s more support to Tanzania in responding to major threats of climate change, including threat to poverty reduction, sustainable growth and potentially to national security. The British envoy said the support by her government will aim at ensuring that the country’s development coped with climate change. She said the British government was undertaking work on the economic impact of climate change in Tanzania, including the costs of climate change impact and the adaptation needs. “For all of us, our response to climate change can either be a development disaster, or a development success story,” says Ms Corner. She adds: “We have a choice, and we all—and by that I mean all the countries of the world—need to work together on this.” She says the three arms of the British government in Tanzania—the UK country team, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the British Council are all working towards supporting the government of Tanzania on climate change. “We coordinate our work closely, the High Commission leads on political input, the Department for International Development on development related and poverty alleviation aspects, and the British Council on stimulating debate and engaging with all sectors of society on this critical issue,” says Ms Corner. “We are also working with development partners and opinion formers, including media, to establish a coordinated response to climate change in Tanzania,” says the British High Commissioner. She says her government also needs to help smallholder farmers in coping with climate change by helping them to test new tools and practices, helping to strengthen early warning against malaria epidemics and strengthening early warning systems across the country. “It is important that the voices of vulnerable countries are heard in the global climate debate and to this end we have helped to raise Tanzania’s voice and profile internationally on climate change…” she said. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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