Kassian, Lucy, Tenywa, Moses, Liwenga, Emma T., Wellard Dyer, Kate ORCID: 0000-0003-4397-5361 and Bamutaze, Yazidhi (2016) Implication of climate change and variability on stream flow in Iringa region, Tanzania. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 8 (2). pp. 336-347. ISSN 2040-2244 (doi:https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2016.238)

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Abstract

This paper investigates the implication of climate change and variability on the river flow within the traditional irrigation farming system, vinyungu, in Iringa region, Tanzania. The study aimed at establishing areas that are most impacted by climate change in terms of river flow and various adaptation strategies. It is based on both primary data collected by questionnaires distributed randomly among 189 farmers and key informant checklists conducted with villages’ leaders and Agriculture Extension Officers. Two focused group discussions were carried out for each village as well as the researcher’s own observations, and secondary data includes: literature review, rainfall and river flow data. The long-term annual trends of rainfall and river flow were analyzed via Mann–Kendall’s statistical test and linear trend analysis. Climate data on rainfall trend showed a significant decreasing pattern during the last 17 years. Also, river flow data showed a slight decline within the same period. Decrement in river flow, combined with rainfall fluctuation, forced farmers to employ various adaptation strategies. Following the severity of the problem the paper recommends that more research be conducted on proper water management for sustainable river flow for both agriculture production and environmental management.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits copying and redistribution for non-commercial purposes with no derivatives, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Climate change and variability; Iringa Rural District; Stream flow; Vinyungu
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Livelihoods & Institutions Department
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 19:32
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/16584

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