Effectiveness of community based adaptation practices to extreme weather events: a case of Rufiji District, Tanzania

The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Community Based Adaptation (CBA) practices in responding to extreme weather an event. Smallholder farmers use CBA strategies to adapt to extreme weather an event (i.e. droughts and floods) that affects the agriculture sector, in Rufiji District, Coast region. Data collection techniques included focus group discussions, key) informant interviews and household questionnaire survey. A total of 62 households from Chumbi C and Kikale villages were sampled for questionnaire survey. Other methods used included participant observations and historical recounts. Standardized precipitation Index (SPI) was used to calculate thirty four ears wettest and direst years in the area. All the data collected from household survey were coded and analyzed by using a statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) version 16 then, transform J into Microsoft Excel for data analysis. Results revealed that smallholder farmers adapt to extreme weather events (e.g. floods and droughts) by the use of CBA strategies such as cultivation in wetlands and livelihoods diversification. Rainfall data showed that there is marginal decadal rainfall variability and there is seasonality change in October, November and December (OND): January and February (JF): and March, April, and May (MAM). The changes have serious hearings on crops growing seasons over time. Timeline of droughts and floods since 1980 to date were profiled and linked to farmers perceptions, anomalies and seasons changes. Generally, smallholder farmers in Rufiji District are vulnerable to climate extremes because most of their livelihoods strong depend on rain-fed agriculture. Hence, smallholder farmers respond to extreme weather events using both transformative as well as incremental Community Based Adaptation (CBA) practices strategies to extreme weather events