Browsing by Author "Muyungi, Richard Stanislaus"

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    Coastal communities’ vulnerability to the impacts of climate variability and change and adaptation strategies in Bagamoyo district, Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2019) Muyungi, Richard Stanislaus
    Coastal communities in Tanzania, particularly those in agricultural and fisheries sectors are amongst the most vulnerable to the impact of climate variability and change. The objective of this study was to understand the vulnerabilities, the impacts of climate variability and change and the adaptation strategies amongst the coastal communities of Bagamoyo district, Coast Region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study’s purpose was to examine the indicators, vulnerability and communities’ adaptation strategies. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches in a complementary fashion. Whereas the quantitative data were collected using structured household interviews, the Qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions. The meteorological data were obtained from the Tanzania Meteorological Agency. The Qualitative data collected were subjected to content analysis. Quantitative data, on the Other hand, were analyzed with the help of the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 20 to derive descriptive and inferential statistics. The key findings indicated that the climate has been changing for the last 30 years between 1981 and 2010. Rainfall in the study area had generally decreased at a rate of 11.2 mm, 8.55 mm and 7.96 mm for Chambezi, Wazo hill and Bagamoyo stations. Rainfall seasons were becoming shorter, erratic, with high rainfall intensity and unevenly distributed within short distances. This was affirmed by over 70% of the respondents. While annual rainfall showed a decreasing trend, monthly rainfall showed high variability throughout the 30 years of measurements. Similarly, temperature showed an increasing trend for the past 30 years, with high annual rate of change being noticed on annual mean minimum temperature (0.06 0C) than annual mean maximum temperature (0.02 0C). The study also revealed that households with low income, those dependent on a single commodity and those less educated were more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Contrary to previous studies, the study shows that, with decreasing rainfall trend, communities living in flood prone areas had reliable sources of water in times of drought, which provided them with more crop diversification opportunities and income. Generally, all communities were continuously being impacted by climate variability and change associated risks and shocks such as increased incidences of drought and low crop productivity leading to food insecurity. It was found that short and long term adaptation strategies were influenced mainly by levels of income, livelihood assets, education, infrastructure development and diversity of livelihood sources, as well as the size of households and land ownership which determined households’ adaptive capacities and options. It was also found that there was no systematic way of government assistance to local communities to reduce vulnerability and offset the observed impact of climate variability and change in all villages. The study concludes that communities have limited strategies to address the impacts and climate change has not been adequately mainstreamed in the development and poverty alleviation process at the local level. It is recommended that adaptation interventions, including mainstreaming at village level, should start with climate change awareness from the basic understanding of the implications of climate variability and change.