Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change among Smallholder Farmers in Moshi Rural District, Tanzania

Abstract

Climate change is real and presents a threat to human beings particularly the smallholder farmers who rely onrainfed agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate change aff ects smallholder farmers diff erently, and hence actsdiff erently to address their impacts. Th us in order to address the adverse impacts of climate change, adaptationto climate change impacts is important. Th is study was undertaken to examine smallholder farmer ' s adaptationstrategies in Moshi Rural district, Tanzania. Primary data were obtained from 359 household heads and 35key informants. Data collection methods for this study were face-to-face administered questionnaires, in-depthinterviews, focus group discussions, and observation. Questionnaires were administered to 359 household headswhile in-depth interviews were administered to key informants. Analysis involved descriptive statistics forquantitative data and content analysis for qualitative data. Findings from this study revealed that majority ofsmallholder farmers have undertaken diff erent adaptation strategies to address climate change impacts. Th esestrategies were both at household level and at the farm-level. Household level adaptation strategies includelivelihood diversifi cation, changing eating habits and dependency on remittances, while farm level adaptationstrategies were crop diversifi cation, irrigation and intercropping.