The Impact of Climate Variability and Change on Communities’ Access to and Utilization of Coastal Resources in Pangani District, Tanzania

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to understand the impacts of climate variability and change on coastal resource governance, communities’ vulnerability and livelihoods security in the district. Specifically, the study aimed to assess the effects of rainfall and temperature variability and change on coastal resource distribution and management, to examine the vulnerabilities of socio-economic activities along the coastal areas to the impacts of climate variability and change and to establish the adaptive measures that the community and other stakeholders adapted to address the impacts of climate change and variability. The research was conducted in three purposively selected villages in Pangani District. A random sample of 60 respondents participated in the study. The study employed a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings from this study demonstrate that climate change has happened and is still happening in the study area. The notable impacts of climate change include decrease of rainfall and change of rainfall seasons and patterns, emergence of new crop diseases and pests, decrease of fish catch, intrusion of salinity in the rivers and inland and general decline of crop productivity. The findings reveal that the impacts of climate change have been increasing over time between 1980 and 2014.