Practice Note: “Furrow #1�: A Lesson in Stewardship and Community in Tanzania

The town of Usa River lies on the banks of its namesake between Moshi and Arusha, Tanzania, home to
Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Usa River lies on the slopes of Kili’s lesser known
neighbor, Mount Meru, which is home to one of Tanzania’s, and indeed Sub-Saharan Africa’s, largest
concentrations of hillside and furrow irrigation schemes and individual farmers.

In late 2017, the Sustainable Water Management Partnership (SUWAMA) was established in Usa River,
facilitated through the Kilimanjaro Water Stewardship Platform, supported in part by Water Resources
Group 2030, the International Water Stewardship Programme, DFID, GIZ, and Coca Cola. The purpose of
the SUWAMA partnership was to address water challenges in the Usa River sub-catchment.

Conflicts between local water users were becoming more common in the Usa River sub-catchment.
Individual users had resorted to private security to guard their irrigation canal offtakes, and the
operations of some commercial growers experienced vandalism. Previously, the river benefited from
substantial rainfall and snowmelt from Mount Meru, but as the rains became less frequent, over-
exploitation of water had become a concern to the Pangani Basin Water Board, which is responsible for
overseeing the issuance of water permits in the entire Pangani River Basin. In addition to the Basin
Water Board, the SUWAMA partnership comprises the Pangani Basin Water Board, the Tanzania
Horticultural Association, and Kiliflora, a company which grows cut flowers for export.

The partnership organized a committee for “Furrow # 1�, the first of a series of irrigation channels fed by
the Usa River. The committee and the Water User Association supported conservation of riparian buffer
zones and strengthening of local water governance. This was supported by in-kind and cash
contribution from Furrow #1 water users. Access to water is now by extraction permit from the Pangani
Basin Water Board to allow water users to extract their allotted amount and negotiate water needs with
the Furrow Committee. Furrow water users meet once a month with both upstream and downstream
water users.

The Tanzanian Horticultural Association, with support from local commercial growers, has provided
services including training for local farmers, good pesticide practices, legal and regulatory changes in
water permitting, business planning, financial connections to banks and credit facilities, and reducing
the amount of chemicals entering the river.

Entering its third year of operation, the Furrow #1 Committee is still active. Conflict between water
users has reduced significantly. At the start, only 11 water users held valid permits, and 54 users were
found to have no permits at all. The partnership has facilitated the transfer of old water rights for 40 of
those users into new water permits, increasing revenues from the water permits by more than 40% per
year. In addition, key springs such as the Teema spring near the furrow have been protected and re-
vegetated.

Challenges still remain – including land tenure challenges, aging irrigation infrastructure, and a rapid
increase in the use of low-cost solar irrigation pumps in an evolving regulatory environment. But
overall, the “Furrow #1� story is an example of how agricultural water stewardship practices can
transform communities and lead to a healthier and protected water source. Lessons from the model
have been taken into account to inform the development of the proposed Tanzania Water Security for
Growth project supported by the World Bank.