OpenMap Development Tanzania (OMDTZ) is helping communities across Tanzania confront one of their greatest threats: urban flooding worsened by climate change.
In Dar es Salaam, where more than 70pc of residents live in unplanned settlements, floods are not just an inconvenience they are a recurring crisis that disrupts lives, damages homes, and endangers public health every rainy season.
To tackle these escalating challenges, OMDTZ is empowering communities with something just as crucial as physical infrastructure, information.
Since 2017, the Dar es Salaam-based non-profit has been pioneering the use of open data, digital mapping, and geospatial technology to identify flood risks, inform disaster response, and support smarter urban planning.
The Executive Director of OpenMap Development Tanzania, Innocent Maholi, notes that access to data is a right. “At OMDTZ, we believe that access to data is a right, not a privilege. When communities understand their risks, they can take action.”
Through the Ramani Huria project, OMDTZ engages local youth, university students, and residents to map flood-prone zones using platforms like OpenStreetMap, drones, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
These efforts have produced highly detailed flood-risk maps for 45 wards in Dar es Salaam, maps that are now being used to inform city planning, guide emergency response, and implement targeted interventions like drain clearing and road improvements.
Numbers speak volumes
OMDTZ’s mapping work has directly benefited over 140,000 people. Collaborations with global institutions such as the World Bank have enabled the deployment of real-time water-level monitoring systems, enhancing early warning capabilities and strengthening Tanzania’s overall disaster preparedness.
Unlike top-down models, OMDTZ’s approach is rooted in community participation. By equipping ordinary citizens with digital tools and practical training, the organization doesn’t just collect data, it builds resilience, trust, and agency. People become active stakeholders in protecting their own environments, rather than passive recipients of aid.
In January 2025, OMDTZ was awarded the Zayed Sustainability Prize in the Climate Action category, a recognition of its outstanding contribution to sustainable development through inclusive, data-driven innovation.
The prize funding will support the expansion of its mapping programs to other climate-vulnerable regions, such as Morogoro and Pwani, and deepen its investment in training community mappers and local planners.
“This recognition comes at a critical time. As African cities continue to grow and climate-related hazards become more frequent, access to timely, accurate, and actionable data will be central to shaping resilient futures. OMDTZ’s model offers a compelling blueprint: low-cost, high-impact, and community-powered.” Remarked Maholi.
He further added that what OMDTZ is building isn’t just maps, it’s a new way of understanding and navigating climate risk.
“By putting tools in the hands of communities, and knowledge at the center of planning, they’re showing what sustainable, climate-smart urban development can look like across Africa.” He added.
