Tanzania’s weather watchdog issues alert over rainfall season

 

Tanzania’s weather watchdog on Thursday issued an alert over the March-May rainfall season saying the rains will have both positive and negative impacts.

The Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) said in a statement the March-May rainfall season expected to be experienced in some parts of the country will have an impact on sensitive sectors, including agriculture and food security, livestock and fisheries, wildlife and tourism, health, water, transport and energy.

The rainfall season is specific to areas of the northeastern highlands, northern coast, Lake Victoria basin and the northern part of Kigoma region, said the statement.

It said periods of enhanced rainfall are expected during March over the northern coast and in April for the north eastern highlands area.

According to TMA’s weather forecast, excessive rains may cause excessive soil moisture and hamper field crops that do not require much water, such as maize and leguminous crops.

The TMA advised farmers to start land preparation and planting early, using appropriate soil management practices and technology to control soil erosion and nutrient loss, seed and crop selection based on seasonal characteristics.

The statement said pasture and water availability for livestock are expected to be sufficient over most areas during the March-May rainfall season.

It added that livestock pests and diseases associated with enhanced rains may occur during the season, advising livestock keepers to practice good animal husbandry such as rotational grazing in order to conserve pasture and harvest rainwater for future use.

The expected rains are likely to cause the risk of infectious diseases particularly due to the exposure to water-borne and vector-borne pathogens, said the statement.

Increase in water levels in lakes, rivers and dams are expected to contribute to the availability of food for fish production, said the statements, advising fishers to strengthen fishing infrastructure, and seek advice and guidance from extension officers in their localities.

It said sufficient pasture and water availability for wildlife are anticipated over most areas which may cause infrastructure damage and occurrence of pests and diseases.

“Relevant authorities are advised to improve tourism infrastructure and take control measures against animal pests and diseases,” said the statement.

According to the statement, potential occurrence of extreme weather events is expected to affect transport infrastructure, leading to damage of road and railways infrastructure, and increased number of accidents for land transport.

The statement said increased water levels in dams are expected to improve hydropower generation.

On the other hand, the rainfall is expected to affect exploration and mining, especially for small-scale miners for gold and gems.