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Kangalawe 63Table 8. Examples of non-climatic stress factors in Mbozi District.Rank Ntugwa village Nyimbili village1 Health related factors (HIV/AIDS infections; malaria) Health related factors (HIV/AIDS infections; malaria)2 Crops and livestock diseases/pests Declining soil fertility3 Shortage of agricultural inputs Shortage of agricultural inputs4 Shortage of experts Poor road infrastructure5 Water management problem in farmlands Low prices of agricultural produce6 Declining soil fertility Inadequate livestock facilities7 Crimes e.g. stealing food stuffs in fields Youth out migration8 Water logging during the rainy seasons Lack of capital9 Poor roads and other transport infrastructure Lack of clean and safe waterSource: Liwenga et al. (2007b).some parts of the southern highlands of Tanzania. Thefactors have been ranked based on locally perceivedimportance.Health related factors were ranked high, particularlymalaria. According to respondents in the study areaseven when climatic factors and soil fertility are goodenough for agricultural production, good human healthremains of paramount necessity for effectivemanagement of the farms. A healthy person canundertake various livelihood activities more successfullycompared to a less healthy one, even when the climate isfavourable. Further, human diseases reduce the labourforce, making the undertaking of various livelihoodactivities by the household rather difficult (Liwenga et al.,2007b; Kangalawe, 2009).Other common stress factors include declining soilfertility, which was attributed to continuous cultivationwithout adequate nutrient replacement, which hasresulted in declining agricultural productivity. Decliningsoil fertility was further linked to shortage of agriculturalinputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds, pesticides andherbicides. It was reported in Nyimbili that the problem isfurther compounded by land scarcity that limitedagricultural expansion. Nyimbili village is surrounded byprotected natural forests, which cannot be exploited foragriculture. With increasing population growth shiftingcultivation practices have also declined and fallowperiods shortened due to increasing land scarcity(Liwenga et al., 2007b). A combination of these situationscompounds the negative impacts of climate change andsubsequently threatens the food security situation of thearea.Lack of capital and poor road infrastructure were alsoreported to be a serious stress factors in many parts ofthe southern highlands. Out migration of youth from thevillages was regarded as an important factor affectingagricultural production and, consequently, food security.Youths were reported to migrate to urban and peri-urbanareas of Mbeya town looking for alternative livelihoods.This was reported to be a stress factor limiting theattainment of food security because it reduces labourforce at household level thereby reducing sizes ofcultivated farms, and consequently low crop production.Lack of clean and safe water was considered to beanother stress factor due to the fact that in many partsexisting water sources such as springs are sharedbetween humans and livestock. In this case, waterpollution was reported to be a problem, which could be acause for various human health risks, such as diarrhoealdiseases. Villages located in lowlands and dominated byclay soils often suffer from water logging during the rainyseasons. This was reported to cause damage to rainfedcrops, particularly maize and sorghum, thereby affectingthe local people in terms of income as well as foodsecurity. This was a particular concern in Ntungwa villagelocated within the Lake Rukwa basin.Another stress factor that impacts the food securitysituation in many parts of the southern highlands is croptrade. It was reported by communities in Mbozi District,for instance, that crop trade is responsible for foodinsecurity, the way it happened in 2006 when most of thehumid highland areas of the district reported foodshortage due to overselling of food crops. This shortagewas due to higher prices offered for food crops especiallyby traders from neighbouring countries (Liwenga et al.,2007b). The areas that were most affected were thoseeasily accessed by the major roads. Thus an areatraditionally with favourable climate for agriculturalproduction faced occasional food insecurity because ofthe influence of market forces. Thus, climatic and nonclimaticstress factors may complement or compound theimpacts of each other. An already stressed socioeconomicenvironment becomes more vulnerable toenvironmental change like climate change and variabilitycompared to a less stressed environment under the samelevel of exposure to risks of climate change andvariability.Using multidisciplinary approaches in assessingimpacts of climate change and other stress factorsThorough understanding of the impacts of climate changeand other stress factors related to food security and
64 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.Figure 9. Using participatory approaches in assessing the impacts of climate change and other stress factors in Ntungwa village,Mbozi – brainstorming (left) and matrix scoring (right).human health need a multidisciplinary approach. Thismay be reflected in the assessment tools used, mainlyconsidering the field experiences and ability of the peopleto comprehend the different tools. Some of the tools usedare discussed here.Field experiences in the southern highlands indicatedthat for establishing overviews on patterns and impacts ofclimate change and variability participatory approaches(Chambers, 1992; Mikkelsen, 1995), such asbrainstorming could be used, as they facilitateparticipants to contribute in the discussions (Figure 9).Timelines and key informant interviews are among theother tools that could be effectively used in establishingglobal change patterns at the local level.Identification of other stress factors and the magnitudeof their impacts on the natural resource base andlivelihoods can successfully be undertaken at communitylevel using matrix scoring (Figure 9). Field experiencehas shown that such an exercise makes participantsmore excited and eager to participate. Wealth rankinghas proven to be another very helpful tool in examiningthe levels of vulnerability to environmental change andother stress factors in the southern highlands of Tanzania(Kangalawe and Liwenga, 2007; Liwenga et al., 2007a,b).This approach, which determines the endowment oflivelihood assets by respective households, is particularlyuseful in social stratification that influences adaptationand vulnerability to various stress factors such as climatechange. Wealth ranking may also provide explanations toquestions of why and how certain groups are morevulnerable or most adaptive than others in the samecommunity, for example, as indicated by sizes of farmsand number of livestock owned, ownership of food orcash crops, and level of food security of a particularhousehold, among others.Despite the effectiveness of these tools in assessingthe impacts of climate change and other stress factors,these tools need to be integrated as they complementeach other. Nevertheless, field experience has shownthat participatory assessments of climate change docontribute to the quick understanding of the patterns ofclimate variability, the impacts, and adaptive capacities,as well as other stress factors impacting on the livelihoodof rural communities. However, for more quantitativeanalysis such tools need to be complemented by sometraditional approaches like household surveys andmodelling.ConclusionsLike many other parts of the country the southernhighlands of Tanzania are vulnerable to environmentalchange, particularly climate change. Such vulnerability isreflected in various impacts of environmental change on,among others, food security and human health.Agricultural production, which is an essential componentof food security, is largely rainfed. This subjects the areato occasional food shortage especially in years withextreme climatic events such as floods and droughts.Droughts have become more recurrent, while floods haveoften destroyed infrastructure and affecting fooddistribution and access by many communities. While foodsecurity and/or insecurity varies spatially and temporarilydepending on rainfall patterns, other stress factors suchas soil conditions, socio-economic, cultural factors andaccess have often influenced food security in thesouthern highlands of Tanzania and globally.Environmental change has also had significant impactson human health in various parts of the country. The risein global temperatures has been a factor for increasedincidences of highland malaria in the southern highlands,areas that were traditionally free from mosquitoes andmalaria. Other climate-related health risks have alsoincreased, for example, diarrhoeal and respiratorydiseases. Increased health risks due to environmental
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