Impact of floods on Agricultural production and household food security in the lower Songwe river basin (LSRB), Kyela district: a case of study of Kabanga and Ndwage villages

This study examined the impact of floods on agricultural production and household food security in Lower Songwe river basin (LSRB) of Kyela district. The basin experiences recurrent floods which have impact on crop production, among other livelivehood activities. Different methods were used in data collection, namely literature review, household questionnaire survey, participatory field observations, key informant interview and Focus Group Discussion. The findings from the study show that floods increase over time as reflected by an increase of water level of Songwe River over time with a positive correlation (R2=0.0453). The study also revealed that floods have positive and negative impacts on livelihood activities. The major impacts of floods on farm acreage and yields includes increased soil fertility (30.3%), increased weed infestation (21.4%) increased soil erosion (15.2%) and increased pest and diseases occurrence (12.6%). Given such situation, households have developed different coping and adaptation strategies to impact of floods. The nature and magritude of the strategies depend much on socio-economic status of the household, which reflects the ownership of the livelihoods’ asset. The livelihood strategies undertaken includes working as causal labour (36.2%), selling livestock (30.5%), shifting to higher ground (26.7%0, ownership of land both in low lands and higher grounds (23.1) and crop diversification (21.6). The study further noted that the existing institutional framework plays a significant role in addressing the impact of floods, but face a number of challenges such as limited material resources, financial resources and incapacitated human resources. The study concluded that, to a large extent, floods affected negatively water sensitive crops such as maize, beans and cocoa while it water loving crops such as rice.