Climate Resilience in Developing Cities: Msimbazi Basin, Dar es Salaam

This policy brief examines the Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme (TURP) and its efforts to build climate resilience in the Msimbazi Basin of Dar es Salaam. It highlights the shift from hard-engineering to nature-based solutions, the importance of stakeholder engagement, and strategic project framing to secure diverse funding sources.

• Dar es Salaam is experiencing rapid urbanisation and is projected to become a mega city with over 10 million people by 2030. The Msimbazi Basin is a critical area where 27% of the city's population resides, but service provision has failed to keep pace with growth, leading to unplanned settlements and high poverty.
• The Msimbazi Basin suffers from frequent and severe flooding, with average annual losses estimated at $47 million. Climate change and urban intensification are expected to increase these flood risks and associated health hazards in the coming decades.
• Established in 2016 by the government of Tanzania, the World Bank, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme (TURP) uses a four-pillar approach: risk identification, risk reduction, emergency preparedness, and a resilience academy.
• Tanzania's resilience strategy relies on deep stakeholder engagement, exemplified by the Msimbazi Charrette and the Circle-Bao Tool. These processes led to a Strategy and Management Framework for the Msimbazi Basin based on four goals: mitigate, protect, transform, and govern.
• The programme prioritises a hybrid approach combining hard engineering with Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA). A planned city park in the lower Msimbazi Basin will use wetlands and mangrove forests to manage floodwaters while providing socio-economic benefits and biodiversity conservation.
• To secure $20 million in initial funding, the Tanzanian government framed the Msimbazi project as 'urban planning, restructuring and resilience' rather than solely as flood-risk management. The document suggests that using cross-sectoral teams to highlight multi-faceted benefits allows projects to access socio-economic development funds not typically allocated to climate adaptation.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2019). Climate Resilience in Developing Cities: Msimbazi Basin, Dar es Salaam. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Policy-Insights-72-sauka.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Climate Resilience in Developing Cities: Msimbazi Basin, Dar es Salaam. 2019. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Policy-Insights-72-sauka.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Climate Resilience in Developing Cities: Msimbazi Basin, Dar es Salaam |date=July 2019 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Policy-Insights-72-sauka.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2019climate, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Climate Resilience in Developing Cities: Msimbazi Basin, Dar es Salaam}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Policy-Insights-72-sauka.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }