Socio-Economic and Ecological Assessment of the Blue Economy in Tanzania 2022: Application of UNECA’S Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit

Abstract

The Blue Economy is one of the emerging strong pillars of socioeconomic and ecological development and growth across the world. It is one of the few resource-base whose exploitation can be conducted sustainably, and also whose ecological protection can generate economic value. In 2020, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) developed a Blue Economy Valuation Toolkit (BEVT). This toolkit allows countries to assess the economic, social, and ecological value (in quantitative terms) that BE resources generate. Equipped with this information, countries can strategize on how best to optimism on these BE resources for enhanced socioeconomic and ecological gains. The United Republic of Tanzania requested UNECA for support to conduct a domestication of the toolkit, with the aim to understand the value that its BE resources generate, in support of national growth and development. The BEVT was therefore applied to Mainland Tanzania, using the Supply Use Table data from 2015, obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Mainland Tanzania. A tentative estimation of Zanzibar was also conducted, using data from the Supply Use Table 2015. The ecosystem valuation was done using a pool of data ranging from 2015 to 2020 sourced from National Environmental Research Agenda, 2017-2022. The outcome of the BEVT assessment in Mainland Tanzania, and Zanzibar, with reference to the most recent adequate data available and inserted, is as follows : Blue Economy contributed to 11.9% of Mainland Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 39.6% of Zanzibar’s GDP in the year 2020; The wages that the BE generated in the year 2020 formed 9.9% of Gross National Income (GNI) in Mainland Tanzania, and 25.4% in Zanzibar; The values of ecosystem services were approximately USD 104.24 billion in the year 2020 for BE resources of Mainland Tanzania: 74.8% of which is generated by freshwater lakes. In the case of Zanzibar, the value of ecosystem services in 2020 was estimated at USD 100.76 billion, led by the contribution from coral reefs; The BE contributes positively to the social fabric of both Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, as indicated by its Composite Social Index Value which was 48.64 in 2020.The recommendations of the report pertain to five key thematic, which include coordination, research and data collection, capacity-building, awareness, and policy development.