Pathways to Enhance Climate Change Resilience among Pastoral Households in Northern Tanzania

Ronald Boniphace Ndesanjo,Ida Theilade,Martin Reinhardt Nielsen

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45106-6_128

Ronald Boniphace Ndesanjo, Ida Theilade + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45106-6_128

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Abstract

AbstractThe objective of this study was to evaluate the pathways to enhance resilience to increased climate variability and directional change among pastoral households in Simanjiro District in Northern Tanzania. The study used household survey and rainfall and temperature data. Results indicate increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation trends over the past four decades. Also, extreme climatic events, particularly drought, have become more frequent. Food and water insecurity are key factors causing an increased household vulnerability. Increased climate change-induced malaria prevalence poses additional health risks. Household adaptive strategies include livelihood diversification and migration. Local institutions are instrumental in enhancing climate change resilience at the local level. We conclude that livelihood diversification and migration are key pathways to enhancing households’ climate change resilience.

Highlights

Observed and projected changes in local climate conditions in Tanzania include precipitation variability increasing between 5% and 45% accompanied by a temperature rise of 2–4 C (Trærup and Mertz 2011)
This study sought to understand pathways to enhance the resilience of pastoral households in Simanjiro District-Northern Tanzania to increasing climate variability and directional climate change
Extreme climatic events droughts have become more common from the 1990s onwards

Summary

Introduction

There is a strong consensus that temperatures, based on medium emissions scenarios, are likely to rise by more than 2 C in most parts of Africa by the end of the century (Orlove 2019). These changes are manifested in many ways including shifts of rain seasons, erratic rains, extreme droughts and precipitation, strong winds, and higher temperatures (Berkhout 2012; Suckall et al 2014) These changes have brought about adverse livelihood impacts such as reduced crop yields and changes in the crop calendar (Berkhout 2012; Mertz et al 2009). Climate change vulnerability is considered higher in developing countries due to particular socio-economic and ecological conditions that increase people’s exposure to risk factors and reduce the adaptive capacities Extreme events such as droughts and floods increase rural livelihoods vulnerability because they rely more on climatic conditions (Sewando et al 2016). These changes adversely affect crop, mobility, and migration patterns among rural communities (Rodima-Taylor 2012)

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Conclusion