Interactions between Farmers’ Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals in Tanzania, East Africa

Abstract

This study investigated the potential adaptation measures for farmers in the Mwanga and Same Districts of Tanzania and then assessed their positive and negative interactions towards potential contributions to the selected sustainable development goal (SDG) indicators of no poverty and zero hunger. A total of 200 household surveys were conducted, and 36 participants were interviewed as key informants. Moreover, four focus group discussions were conducted to identify potential adaptation strategies in the studied areas. The literature and expert judgement approaches were used to understand and assess the positive and negative interactions between adaptation strategies and the selected indicators of SDGs. A seven-point scale of SDG interactions was used to determine the interactions between identified adaptation strategies and selected SDG indicators. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis, whereas quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The finding revealed that some of the adaptation strategies (i.e., stream bank crop cultivation, valley bottom crop cultivation, and cultivating crops near water sources) considered potential at the household levels and had strong negative interactions on achieving SDG 2.4.1. Further, most farmers hardly employed strategies (i.e., use of extension officers, concrete irrigation channels, crop insurance schemes, and credit schemes) that had strong positive interactions on the selected SDG indicators. Moreover, most of the identified strategies (i.e., early maturity crops, planting drought-resistant crops, use of improved varieties, mixing improved and local varieties, mixing short and long duration varieties, and crop diversification) are enabling strategies (+1), which, despite their importance, may constrain (−1) the income of small-scale farmers, food security, and poverty reduction. The importance of other strategies (i.e., irrigation infrastructures) must be addressed for better yields and positive impacts. Hence, achieving SDGs 1 and 2 in the studied areas will require the integration of different adaptation strategies that complement each other, and not by promoting only some strategies as used or suggested before. For example, the emphasis on using improved varieties and crop diversification should be complemented by access to credit schemes, irrigation infrastructures, crop insurance, and extension services at the village level.

Climate Change Response Strategies and Implications on Sustainable Development Goals in Mutirikwi River Sub-Catchment of Zimbabwe

“…Directly or indirectly, they will have an influence on national, regional, as well as the global development agenda. Similar studies that focused on the agricultural sector also observed that climate change response strategies can significantly contribute towards attainment of SDGs, for example, Magesa et al (2023) observed positive implications of farmers' adaptation strategies to SDGs 1 and 2 in Tanzania. Implications of climate change response strategies on SDGs can be observed within the water sector in the Mutirikwi sub-catchment.…”

COVID-19 Pandemic, Climate Change, and Conflicts on Agriculture: A Trio of Challenges to Global Food Security

“…These agroecological practices replicate the local environment, are affordable, ecologically friendly, and culturally aligned, making them particularly beneficial for smallholder farmers in poor and middle-income countries facing the climate crisis, helping them to build climateresilient communities that address the interrelated issues of climate change, food security, and human health. While these adaptation strategies can reduce the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity, at the same time, other studies, such as [87], suggest that concrete irrigation water supply, extension, transfer of knowledge, technologies, and credit facilities must also be used for better yields and positive impacts. Strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring of cropping systems according to the changing climate plays a pivotal role in sustainable food production.…”

Sustainable Development of Water Housing Using the Example of Poland: An Analysis of Scenarios

“…A diversity of concepts, and a wide spectrum of SD goals, have been the subjects of scientific research [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. An additional area of scientific research is the implementation of sustainable development goals by individual countries [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”