Climate Change and Variability Impacts on Agricultural Production and Food Security for the Smallholder Farmers in Rungwe, Tanzania.

Abstract

Climate change and variability pose serious challenges among smallholder farmers in developing countries. Low adaptive capacity aggravates the challenges to farming activities and ecosystem management. This study employed survey methods to assess the implications of climate variability and environmental changes in agricultural production and food security. The study used different research methods, including literature review, participatory rural appraisal, household questionnaire, key informant interview and field observation for data collection. The data collected were organised, triangulated, synthesised, processed, analysed using thematic and trend analyses for qualitative data and Microsoft Excel and SPSS 20 software programme manipulation for quantitative data. Severe and frequent climatic extremes that include drought, heavy rainfall, temperature variations, and strong winds are smallholder farmers' main challenges in production. As a result, the production trends and productivity of the main rainfed crops decreased significantly. The duration of the growing season also decreased, negatively affecting the local food supplies. The statistical results signify a robust negative correlation between climate variability and the production of the leading food crops (X2 = 6.00 with p = 0.199 and X2 = 10.00 with p = 0.350). In addressing the challenges, improving farming practices such as crop diversification and improved extension services were suggested. However, such options would require appropriate environmentally friendly technologies in an enabling environment both locally and nationally.