Hunter-gatherers’ coping strategies on climate change in Iramba and Mbulu districts,Tanzania

The study intended to establish the perceptions of community on climate change, identifying the Hadzabe’ food insecurity coping strategies toward climate change and assessing the extent of food availability and stability. The study was conducted in five selected villages in Iramba and Mbulu Districts namely Kipamba, Munguli, Yaedachini, Mongo wa Mono and Domanga. The cross-sectional technique was used to collect data. Purposive and Simple random sampling methods were used to obtain 100 respondents. Both structured and unstructured questionnaire were used in data collection, supplemented by focus group discussion and key informants. Data were analyzed using computer programmes and content analysis method. The descriptive statistics such as frequencies, and percentages were computed. The finding from this study reveals that people have experienced the presence of climate change and hence lead to the chronic food insecurity. However, the Hadzabe have developed different coping strategies to mitigate the situation. The most used coping strategies included: relying food from government and NGOs, eating foods which have not been used before, migrating to the area with food, borrowing food and selling labour and engaging in petty business. The dependence on wild food and lack of food storage facilities and habit were identified as the main contributing factors to food insecurity to the Hadzabe. The study concluded that, there is a need for improving the coping capacity of the Hadzabe by strengthening their coping strategies and recognizing the importance of forest resource in supporting the Hadzabes’ livelihoods to improve food availability and stability. It is recommended that long term development measures such as training on crops and animals’ husbandry, modern beekeeping,iii food processing and storage techniques should be provided to the Hadzabe so as to ensure food security in their households.District Executive Director, Iramba District Counci