TITLE:
Investigating Women’s Realization on Understanding the Impact of Climate Variability in Socioeconomic Performance in Zanzibar, Tanzania: A Case of Jambiani Village
AUTHORS:
Bibie Salim Abdullah, Kombo Hamad Kai, Jason Kalugendo, Shamim Mushi, Veronica Mgalula
KEYWORDS:
Climate Variability, Women, Coping Mechanism, Zanzibar
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.12 No.2,
April
1,
2022
ABSTRACT: The study employed the triangulation approach to investigate the impact of climate variability on selected socioeconomic indicators, particularly
food production, health and education, and how much climate variability and its impact on those
indicators was realized and understood among the women living in Jambiani community
in Zanzibar. The study used the explanatory, sequential mixed method to
collect, datasets related to Jambiani communities (i.e. from the women in Kibigija village), other climate data
acquired from Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA), Ministries of
Agriculture and Health and Southern District
in Zanzibar. The results obtained from the analysis of both anecdotal
(interview, questionnaire among others) data shows that climate variability was
imminent in Jambiani communities between 2010 and 2015 and had a negative
impact on food production, health and education. Further results revealed that
women working in informal sectors are more vulnerable to climate impacts than
women working in formal sectors due to less knowledge and techniques to mitigate/cope
with climate variability impacts. Conclusively the study has shown that climate
variability affects more women with less awareness of what is happening and how to cope with it, thus the
study calls for new research work and increasing the awareness on the impacts
of climate on human basic needs.