Mainstreaming Impacts of Climatic Change Affecting Pastoralists in Semi – Arid Rangelands of Longido District, Northern Tanzania
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International Journal of Modern Social Sciences, 2017, 6(1): 103-111 International Journal of Modern Social Sciences ISSN: 2169-9917 Journal homepage: www.ModernScientificPress.com/Journals/IJMSS.aspx Florida, USA Article Mainstreaming Impacts of Climatic Change Affecting Pastoralists in Semi – Arid Rangelands of Longido District, Northern Tanzania Laurent Joseph1*Abiud Kaswamila2 and Bonamax Mbassa3 1Department of Management Science; Institute of Finance Management; Faculty of Economics and Management Science; Box 2372; Mwanza, Tanzania 2Department of Geography and Environmental Studies; University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 395, Dodoma, Tanzania 3Institute of Rural Development Planning, Lake Zone Centre, P.O. Box 11957, Mwanza, Tanzania *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected] Article history: Received 6 march 2017, Revised 19 April 2017, Accepted 30 April 2017, Published 11 May 2017 Abstract: Livestock is the back born of the pastoralists communities around the world and it generally serves a number of purposes to pastoralists’ livelihoods. Livestock is an asset, recognized by pastoralists’ communities as they provide prestige and guarantee for socio- economic engagements. In spite of the importance of these livestock, pastoralists’ communities still they face a number of challenges such as climate change that hinder their way of livelihood. The study focus was on investigating the mainstreaming impacts of climate change on pastoralists’ in rangelands of Longido District in Arusha Region, Northern Tanzania. The study used different approaches and methods for data collection, viz: exploration of secondary information, household survey, interviews and focus group discussion. The sample included 312 of respondents. In data analysis both qualitative and quantitative techniques were applied. This study revealed that climate change has diverse mainstreaming impacts on livestock as well as pastoralists’ livelihoods. The impacts revealed include; shortage of water, loss of pastures, eruption of livestock and human diseases, death of livestock, and loss of income. To help pastoralists cope with climate Copyright © 2017 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Modern Soc. Sci., 2017, 6(1): 103-111 104 change impacts the study recommends the establishment of integrated programs such bottom up policy formulation strategy, where all problems caused by climate change are discussed together and the solution, mitigation measures and coping mechanisms are identified in order to adapt to climate change impacts. Other recommendations are for the livestock experts to develop innovative strategies to help these poor pastoralists cope with the situation and provide both technical and capital assistance to pastoralists. Keywords: Pastoralists, climate change impacts, Longido District and Semi – Arid Rangelands. 1. Introduction Climate is a vital aspect for the survival of animals and plants all over the world but change of its characteristics in terms of temperature increase and rain shortage, disturbs the whole ecosystem, especially for those who directly depend on natural resources for their survival, such as pastoralists and hunter-gatherers (Waugh, 2009). Climate has already caused significant damage and threatens to bring even more serious consequences in the future and changes in the biosphere, biodiversity, and natural resources as a whole and unfavorably affecting human health and quality of life (McCarthy, 2001). Indeed climate change is a threat to the survival of many species and ecosystems. This is because, climate variability cause disability and instability on dry lands grounding to life uncertainty in pastoralists’ communities due to the fact that their livelihoods are directly connected with livestock (Yanda and Mubaya, 2011). In this perspective, the death of livestock which is central part of the pastoralists livelihoods as they depend mainly on it for their livelihood either through direct consumption of livestock products or through exchange of it in the local and international markets. With recent climate changes and its impacts, herders are forced to change the way of living and adopt other strategies like livelihood diversification for survival. In this context the aim of this paper was to assess the impacts of climate change upon the pastoralists in semi- arid range lands in Longido District, Tanzania. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. The Study Area The study was conducted in four villages namely Mairowa, Keserian, Engikaret and Sinya in Longido District situated between Latitude 2⁰20" and 3⁰10" South of the Equator and Longitude 36⁰00" and 37⁰30" East of Greenwich. The area is predominantly occupied by traditional pastoralist Copyright © 2017 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Modern Soc. Sci., 2017, 6(1): 103-111 105 Maasai community. The lives of the pastoralist Maasai depend on the quality and quantity of their livestock and their products, which in turn are dependent on the availability of pasture, water and livestock health. Both water and natural pasture are sometimes insufficient, especially during drought periods. The District is rich in birdlife and different wildlife such as antelopes, Gerenuk, Zebras, Giraffes, Ostrich and Black-backed Jackals (LDP, 2015). According to the 2012 National Census the human population is 123,153 of which males are 60,199 and 62,954 are females (URT, 2012). Average household size is 4.5. The main economic activities of Longido are livestock keeping where more than 90 per cent of the population is engaged in. Large scale farming is practiced in the North Eastern part of the District. Subsistence farming is also practiced in the District (LDP, 2015). Administratively, the District with an area of 7782 km² is divided into 3 Divisions i.e. Longido, Ketumbeine and Enduimet. The District has 16 Wards; 41 Villages and 136 sub-villages. The District has a total of 21 Councilors. Out of the total District land area 82.14% is grazing land, 13.6% is arable land for cultivation, and 4.7% is forest land (LDP, 2015). The climate of the district falls under two agro- ecological zones - highlands and low lands. The highland zone is characterized by a number of isolated mountains with an average altitude of 2000 m above sea level. It has mainly deep, freely drained loamy soils with natural fertility status. It is occupied by forests on top of hills. Major economic activities are livestock keeping and agro – pastoralist where livestock keeping is practiced on a moderately large scale (LDP, 2015). The low zone is characterized by flat and rolling plains with altitude ranging from 600 m to 1,200m above sea level. It has mainly deep, freely drained loamy soils with natural fertility status. It is occupied by forest on top of hills. The major economic activities are extensive livestock keeping and tourism. Sunflower is mainly grown in Enduimet Division. Livestock keeping is practiced on a large scale and include cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys and camels mainly for carrying luggage’s (on a small scale) (LDP, 2015). The temperature ranges from 20⁰C – 35⁰C. Rainfall ranges from less than 500 mm in low lands to 900 mm in high altitudes. Short rains normally start in October and ends in December while the long rains start from February to April (LDP, 2015). 2.2. Data Collection Methods and Analysis Secondary data review, household questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions, and field visits were the main methods of data collection. These combinations of methods were used so as to increase data validity and reliability. A total of 312 respondents were involved in this study. In each study village, 55 households were sampled from the village register using simple random sampling procedures as described by Bouma (2000). This made a total of 220 Copyright © 2017 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA Int. J. Modern Soc. Sci., 2017, 6(1): 103-111 106 households’ respondents from four villages. For the case of focus group discussion, a total of 80 focus group discussants were involved. Each village comprised of two focus group discussion namely the males and female groups. Each group comprised of 10 people. These two groups were involved in order to capture views as they are likely to perceive issues differently even for the same problem or issue. For the case of Key informant interviews, a total number of 12 key informants were interviewed. Direct field visits were undertaken in study villages to observe the climate change impacts upon the pastoralists’ communities. Through field study the researchers were able to take photographs (where necessary) of some of the areas affected by climatic change. Data from interviews focus group discussion, technical report reviews, and field visits were mainly qualitative in nature and qualitative analysis techniques (critical multiple, coding and memorizing) were applied (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2004). For quantitative data, SPSS version 16 was used for analysis of nonparametric variables such as frequencies and means. 3. Results and Discussion The summary of field results from household survey on the impacts of climate change in four villages is indicated in Table 1. The main impacts were loss of pasture, emergency of diseases, death of livestock, loss of income, shortages of water for livestock, resource use conflicts and emergency of some undesirable plant species which are poisonous to livestock. Table 1: Perceived climate change impacts in the study area Villages N Climate change impacts* Loss of Shortage Livestock Loss Death of Conflict over Human pasture of water diseases income livestock resources Diseases % % % % % % % Mairowa 55 45.4 65.4 18.1 27.2 60.0 02.7 05.4 Kiserian 55 52.7 38.1 45.5 50.9 43.6 05.9 20.0 Engikaret 55 41.8 49 21.8 32.7 50.9 04.7 16.0 Sinya 55 72.7 56.3 9.0 38.1 43.6 33.9 05.4 Average 55 53.4 52.3 23.6 37.2 49.5 11.8 12.0 Source: Field Data (2015) * =Multiple response 3.1.