Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Volume 71, Issue 1, Pages 131-144Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-021-01588-2
Keywords
Climatic stresses; Rainfall variability; Perception; Incremental adaptation; Transformative adaptation; Indigenous knowledge
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This study assesses how smallholder farmers in Hanang' District, Tanzania have been living and responding to impacts of climate change. The results show that decreased rainfall and increased temperature have significantly affected smallholder farmers in the area. Farmers have implemented various response strategies, but they still face challenges in effectively addressing climate change.
This study sought to assess how smallholder farmers have been living and responding to impacts of climate change in Hanang' District, Tanzania. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using key informant interviews, household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs) and field observations. Quantitative data from the questionnaire survey were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), whilst, qualitative data were exposed to content analysis. Rainfall and temperature trends were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and the significance of the trends determined using Mann-Kendall and CUSUM analysis. Most respondents (78%) revealed decreased rainfall amounts and changed onset, and 94% reported increased temperature. Farmers disclosed that droughts and floods are major climatic stresses in the area; this was substantiated by observed increasing and decreasing temperature and rainfall trends respectively. This corroborated with most respondents who perceived decreased rainfall amounts and changed onset, and reported increased temperature levels. Response strategies include crop diversification and drought-resistant crop varieties, migration, abandoning some crops, and short-cycle crops. However, smallholder farmers have been failing to effectively address climatic challenges. We argue that they are still heavily reliant on social, economic, and policy support to improve their adaptive capacity, particularly, transformative responses.
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