Climate Variability, Temporal Migration and Welfare Among Agricultural Households in Tanzania

Abstract

Climate change risks poses threat to productivity and human welfare especially those living in climatic prone areas and those whose livelihood depends on agriculture activities. More than 80 percent of rural households in Tanzania are employed in the agricultural sector. Their incomes are vulnerable to climate change due to the adverse impact of climate variabilities on the sector. Already several mechanisms are employed by households to insure themselves against climatic risks, including agriculture diversification, income diversification, and social networks.Still no guarantee of which mechanism is best especially for agricultural households in developing countries like Tanzania. Among other mechanisms temporal migration strategies has been linked as strategy to cope with impacts of climate change but this channel has not been intensively researched on which motivates this brief’s objective. Most of mechanisms adopted by households may work better in the cases of individual risks, while most are less efficientifrisks are covariant and affect everyone in an area. Spatial diversification, such as internal migration, has been employed to ensure against covariant risks like climate risk. Temporal internal migration may guarantee vulnerable households by supplementing income from remittances, extended business networks, or benefits from returning migrants who have acquired capital and skills.However, benefits only materialize if migrants remain in contact with their sending household.