Strengthening community/based adaptive capacity: A case study of smallholder rainfed agriculture in Same District, Tanzania.

摘要

This thesis develops a case study of farmer and community-based adaptation in Same District, Northern Tanzania. In particular, it investigates the determinants of adoption of "no regrets" agricultural practices that are advocated to help conserve water and soil resources in light of increasingly variable rainfall patterns. This case study utilizes a Socio-ecological Systems Framework to conceptualize the indicators and interactions among the biophysical, social, and institutional dimensions of the system's interactions, as well as the socio-economic and related ecological setting.;This work builds on summer field work and evaluation of a multifaceted, rights-based community climate adaptation program. In order to understand the link between findings regarding farmer adoption and increased community-level adaptive capacity, the patterns of interaction among actors within this context, as well as the outcomes of those interactions, are detailed according to a set of evaluative criteria. Enabling institutions are demonstrated to be crucial in facilitating farmer adoption of adaptive agricultural practices. Formal extension programs and informal social institutions like labor-sharing groups and learning networks help to facilitate adoption and dissemination of adaptive practices. The adoption of practices themselves is shown to have large payoffs, but to what farmers attribute those yield gains is less clear. Overall, farmers are able to make better use of scarce and unreliable water resources under advocated agricultural practices, but long-term adaptation and resilience depends on strengthening social networks, improving institutional investment, and developing scientifically-grounded toolkits for farmer innovation in the field.