Coping Strategies toward Food Security: A Case of Morogoro Region

This paper discusses the adequacy of off-farm coping strategies in enhancing food security for rural communities and support climate change adaptation. Using data from 2010 household cross-sectional survey in Morogoro, principle components and wealth index were performed to ascertain farmers’ characteristics and ability of the off-farm activities to meet food requirement for each individual household for the whole agricultural season. The findings revealed however, that, the ability of coping strategies from off-farming activities was limited in meeting food requirements throughout the year, hence rendering food insecurity to majority of farmers in the rural areas. Climate variability coping strategies are vital in increasing small holder farmers’ resilience to climate change and weather variability. With appropriate support from governments and development partners, farmers are encouraged to diversify to more viable farming and non-farming strategies so as to increase the chances of non-farm activities in decreasing the problem of food inadequacy. Keywords: Food security, Off-farm, Climate Variability, Coping strategies, Tanzani

Determinants of Rural Poverty in Tanzania: Evidence from Mkinga District, Tanga Region

Identification of factors that are strongly linked to poverty is an important aspect in developing successful strategies intended for poverty reduction. This study aimed at assessing the determinants of poverty in Mkinga district in rural Tanzania. Ordinal regression model was used to model events of observing scores of livelihood status in the area of study. The study revealed that nearly 93% of respondents in the area were poor. Gender, size of land the household owns, the size of farm used in farming, Household size and the dependency ratio were found to be related to poverty, hence influencing poverty in the area of study. While the government is responsible in providing proper infrastructural settings, this paper recommends that, people especially women in this area should be empowered to have positive attitudes towards participating into economic activities using resources around them. Keywords: Rural poverty, Economic growth, Poverty determinants, and Mkinga distric

Climate Change Impacts on Fishing in Coastal Rural of Tanzania

Millions of people around the world depend on fisheries and aquaculture directly or indirectly for their food security, livelihoods and poverty reduction. However, ocean’s ability to meet their needs is in grave danger. Fish is a crucial source of livelihood for fishermen in the coastal rural regions of Tanzania but climate change has caused a major threat to the same. As ocean temperatures rise, many fish species are being driven into deeper waters or toward the planet's poles. The shifting conditions, meanwhile, are inviting historically anomalous breeds into new ranges with unpredictable results. The precise degree to which these phenomena are contributing to Tanzania's current plight is difficult to quantify but ample evidence suggests such changes are already affecting fisheries across the country. Climate-related impacts are occurring across regions of Tanzania and primary sectors of its economy are more vulnerable. Keywords: Climatic Change, Fishing, Climatic Change Adaption, Tanzania