Tanzania to hold conference on innovation to tackle water crisis

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will in November, 2019 host a water management conference in Arusha which will task innovators to come up with ideas to address water solutions in the country.

Organisers say the conference will bring together different innovators who will showcase their ideas on how they can come up with solutions to water woes especially in remote areas that cannot access water easily.

According to Lilian Madeje, the ideas should be in line with the United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDG-2030) goal number six which prioritize access to reliable and safe water supply.

"The conference will also involve five youths who have come up with innovate ideas for water challenges and placed under supervision of the Bits and Bytes project for three months to help them develop their ideas before presenting them at the conference," she said.

She named the innovators as Praise Daniel (Toi), Calistus Kavindi, Neema Kombe and Diana Mollel (Dine Quality Water), Walter Silas (Sunju Water Project) and  Theresia Masmo (Hydraulic Ram Pump).

The five innovators were selected by a panel of judges that included Michael Onesimo from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale (GIZ), Severine Allute from Water Aid and Martha Kazubya from Tanzania Water Supply.

According to Ms Madeje, they expect the innovators to come from various universities in the country, the public as well as the business community.

The innovative ideas are expected to tackle water challenges in access to water and sanitation, as well as wastewater management in the country.

One of the Judges, Michael Onesimo noted that if urgent steps are not taken in addressing water resource conservation challenges, Tanzania especially Dar es Salaam is likely face acute water shortage in a few years to come.

He noted that the demand for water has increased due to human activities and urged that solutions in the water sector require creative thinking.