Three researchers and four postgraduate students (both MSc and PhD) from the Centre for Water Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy Futures (WISE-Futures) at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, Tanzania, are exploring how local communities in semi-arid regions adapt to water scarcity. Through the BASIN Project, funded by IDRC/FCDO under the CLARE programme, the team is studying innovative, nature-based water practices that rural households use to manage drought and land degradation.
In the central Dodoma Region, farmers and pastoralists have developed creative solutions—such as harvesting water from sand rivers, enhancing natural on-farm depressions for rice farming, and utilizing roadside ponds for domestic and agricultural use. These systems capture seasonal runoff, reduce erosion, and support food and water security.
Despite their importance, these local innovations remain largely under-researched and overlooked in national water and development policy. The BASIN project aims not to intervene directly, but to document and elevate community knowledge that can inform future climate resilience planning in Tanzania and beyond.
👉 Read more: CLARE Insight Brief – BASIN Project
