Perceived existence of farmer - pastoralist conflicts in relation to climate Change in Kilosa District, Tanzania

Book chapter 7, pp. 125-148Farmer-pastoralist conflicts have been reported in many parts of Africa, often presented as being driven by resource scarcity. In Tanzania, the two groups of resource users have for a long time found themselves in deadly clashes, most of which resulted into loss of lives and destruction of properties. The main resources causing the conflicts are water, land and pasture. This study is therefore presenting an assessment of how the extent of climate change has induced farmer-pastoralist conflicts in Kilosa District, Tanzania. A cross- sectional research design was adopted for this study. A simple random sampling technique was used to select wards and villages which are home to farmers and pastoralists. A sample size of 120 respondents was drawn. Data were mainly collected using a household survey, focus group discussion (FGD) and interviews with key informants. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and excel program were used in analysing the data. The findings show that climate change, land and water resources were the major sources of conflicts between farmers and pastoralist’s conflict in Kilosa District. The study concludes that there is conflict between farmers and pastoralists due to scarce resources, particularly water, land and pasture, induced by climate change and variability. Based on the findings, various stakeholders including the government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communities should identify new, and improve existing strategies for the wise use of the natural resources among the two groups