Climate Variability, Temporal Migration and Welfare Among Agricultural Households in Tanzania
Date
2022-10
Authors
Chegere, Martin J.
Mrosso, Theresia L.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
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.