Abstract
Mountain environments and communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Changes in temperature are greater than at lower elevations, which affect the height of the cloud base and local rainfall patterns. While our knowledge of the biophysical nature of climate change in East Africa has increased in the past few years, research on Indigenous farmers’ perceptions and adaptation responses is still lacking, particularly in mountains regions. Semi-structured interviews were administered to 300 farmers on Mount Kilimanjaro (n = 150) and the Udzungwa Mountains (n = 150) in Tanzania across gender and wealth groups. Respondents in both mountains reported not only changes in rainfall and temperature, corresponding with meteorological data, but also a greater incidence of fog, wind, frost, and hailstorms—with impacts on decreased crop yields and increased outbreaks of pests. The most common adaptation strategies used were improved crop varieties and inputs. Wealthier households diversified into horticulture or animal rearing, while poorer households of Hehe ethnicity diversified to labour and selling firewood. Despite being climate change literate and having access to radios, most respondents used Indigenous knowledge to decide on planting dates. Our findings highlight how context and culture are important when designing adaptation options and argue for greater involvement of local stakeholders in adaptation planning using a science-with-society approach. Place-based results offer generalisable insights that have application for other mountains in the Global South.
Highlights
We studied two mountain systems in Tanzania because they represent a range of characteristics and wider social–ecological changes likely to be found in other mountain regions in sub-Saharan Africa
One main difference between the two sites were reports of increased extreme events, floods and droughts: more respondents on the Udzungwa Mountains reported these compared to Mount Kilimanjaro
An increase in extreme droughts was not identified in previous studies on Mount Kilimanjaro, it was cited in the Pare and Udzungwa Mountains
Summary
Mountains are home to 10% of the world’s population—expected to grow to 736–844 million by 2050 [4]. Mountains provide benefits to almost half of the world’s human population [3] and provide a range of ecosystem services and goods that are an important source of future agrobiodiversity, medicine, and associated poverty alleviation and sustainable development at local, regional, and international levels [5]. African mountains cover some 3 million km2 —most of which are in the north-western, central, and eastern regions [6]. These mountains are critical water towers, supplying water and associated economic value to the surrounding lowlands. In East Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro provides water to the 3.8 million people who live within the Pangani
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
