Dar es Salaam is a rapidly growing city in Africa with a population approaching 6 million with 70% of people living in informal areas. It is already highly vulnerable to climatic variability, which is expected to increase as climate change continues unabated. The aspect of most frequent concern to Dar es Salaam currently is heavy rainfall. In combination with poor drainage, illegal construction, and other infrastructure problems, heavy rainfall results in flooding that causes major losses and disruptions. For the multitudes of the city’s population living in informal settlements, poor sanitation provisions and practices contribute to additional threats such as diseases and forced relocations.

Developing the government’s response capacity to use the data is a major challenge, as the agencies responsible do not necessarily have the know-how to utilize all datasets. Changing ways of government decision making that have existed over the years is a further challenge. It needs a concrete plan and evidence to prove to the authorities that the initiative is worthwhile and can really support expected changes.
Working with community members of affected areas and support them to use openly available tools to produce data that will later inform evidence-based decisions is inevitable.

Ramani Huria, a community mapping project for flood resilience in Dar es salaam has been working closely with community members who are at risk of being affected due to flooding to provide vital information and accurate datasets. This includes getting proper recommendations from them on what should be done to reduce the severity of the disaster by adopting sustainable solutions powered by data that is open, accessible and available to all.

It is possible to create a better life for affected citizens by using locally generated data that is cost-effective in term of access and manpower invested but brings a much bigger impact to affected communities.