Climate change and socio-ecological systems’ vulnerability in theâ coastal areas of Tanzania: A synthesis

Abstract

Reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities to marine climate change requires that communities have some intrinsic capacity to adapt. To assist adaptation planning and the implementation of adaptation strategies, identifying barriers and enablers to adaptation is critical. Adaptive capacity, resource dependence, local climate change exposure, and biological sensitivity were used to assess socioeconomic vulnerability to climate change in five Tanzania mainland coastal districts of Pangani, Rufiji, Kilwa, Lindi, and Mtwara. Such vulnerability assessment was also done in the three island communities of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia. This last chapter of the monograph summarizes the findings of the case study assessments, draws the main conclusions from them, and identifies the best adaptation strategies that utilize available assets, improve adaptive capacity, and reduce socioeconomic vulnerability (Metcalf et al. 2015).