Environment and Poverty Policy Programme (EPPP)

Geographical location:

Africa/Madagascar > East Africa > Tanzania

Summary

The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has made a commitment to fully integrate environmental issues into future iterations of its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). Despite this commitment, environment-poverty issues continue to be poorly reflected in PRS policies and budgets and expenditure tracking is weak.

A comprehensive review of the PRS was undertaken in 2004, and the government, recognizing the past weaknesses and omissions, has integrated into this revision cross-cutting issues such as the environment. Insofar as WWF is concerned, Civil Society plays an important role in informing and shaping the PRS, and so WWF Tanzania supports engagement of environmental NGOs in this process.

Objectives

- Draw upon the experiences of WWF field programmes in addressing poverty-environment issues to provide evidence on how environmental management can contribute towards national poverty reduction and development targets.

- Bring together environment and development NGOs within Tanzania to develop common positions on poverty-environment issues.

- Sustainable financing established to support conservation through mechanisms such as PES

-Effective Resettlement Action of communities within Derema Corridor in the East Usambaras, and ensuring sustainable investments from the compensation payments

Solution

- The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) determines the areas where investment focus will be from 2004-2006 and this is where local and donor funding will concentrate.

- Most donors are focusing on a growing poverty-environment-economic nexus as well as cross-cutting issues such as health and HIV/AIDS, democracy and governance, gender and education. The overall theme is improvement in well-being.

- Existing WWF Tanzania programmes will be more focusing on poverty reduction and environmental management linkages.

Achievement

The policy office has developed a strategy to ensure that environment-poverty issues are reflected in both the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and associated budgeting and policy processes.

The policy office also worked closely with both Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Vice President’s Office (VPO) - Poverty Eradication Division - in the review of the PRS and has established implementation links.