Climate change, migration and conflict : a case study of Kilosa district, Tanzania

Abstract

This thesis discusses the impacts of climate change on rural and urban households in Kilosa district and focuses on investigating the linkage between climate change, migration and conflict in the district. Different scholars argue that climate change is a fundamental threat to sustainable development in developing countries unless vital actions taken before the warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development. Moreover, academics and security analysts have warned for some time now that climate change threatens water, food security, and the allocation of resources. Such impacts could further allege to increase forced migration, raise tensions and trigger conflict. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change because of widespread poverty and limited adaptive capacity. Moreover, future climate change is likely to pose severe impact in a developing country like Tanzania because of weak socioeconomic structures and agrarian economy. Tanzania is already under stress from series of climate change impacts, especially, in its arid and semi-arid regions. The study area, Kilosa district, is one of the climate change and variability-prone areas in the country. The environmental challenges within the district and in the neighboring areas have had an adverse impact on the development endeavors in the region. The district has also experienced high rates of frequent human mobility and conflict. Hence, the research findings show how climate change affects the livelihood of rural and urban households by instigating human mobility and conflict in Kilosa district. It also discusses climate change adaptation strategies and conflict resolution initiatives in the study area.