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DAR ES SALAAM. – Tanzanian livestock officers warned yesterday that prolonged drought in northern Tanzania could drive cattle to neighbouring countries in pursuit of grazing land. They made the remarks at a climate change training session organised by Oikos East Africa, a Tanzanian NGO that promotes the protection of biodiversity, and the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology.

Recently, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda were engaged in the seizure and confiscation of tens of hundreds of cattle from each of the three neighbouring countries. The officers said blame game among East African countries on the recent seizure and auctioning of cattle will not come to an end if the governments failed to reduce the effects caused by climate change.

“The population growth in Tanzania and increase in livestock pressure will further worsen the problem of grazing land,” said Esther Meiludie, a livestock officer with the Arusha District Council.

Meiludie added: “Much as we continue to experience long dry spells in northern Tanzania, cattle, goats and cows will continue crossing our borders and definitely end up being auctioned by our neighbours.”

She said the Arusha District authorities were now grappling with prolonged dry spells even with drought resistance crops given to them by Oikos East Africa. Joe Hiza, a livestock officer from Meru District Council, called on pastoral communities to control the number of their cattle to avoid being seized and auctioned after crossing borders in search of pasture.

He urged the government to get back to stepping up efforts in raising awareness among pastoral communities on the need of controlling livestock population to mitigate the effects of climate change. ECO-BOMA project manager Giorgio Colombo said climate change was a challenging issue that required knowledge enhancement to adapt to necessary measures.

Ramadhani Kupaza, director of Oikos East Africa, said climate change was no longer a myth and that every Tanzanian had a role to play in addressing the problem. – Xinhua.