Potentials of Growing Drought-Tolerant Crops in Climate Change Adaptation in Semi-arid Tanzania

Abstract

This paper unfolds the potentials of growing drought-tolerant crops (DTCs) as one of the climate change adaptation strategies used widely in semi-arid Tanzania. It draws data from a study conducted in Chamwino District through a triangulation of methods such as household survey, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, field observations, and document review. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis, and quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The results suggest that from 1996 to 2025 rainfall has declined at a significant rate of R2 = 0.0014, implying that the study area is increasingly becoming drier and susceptible to drought incidents: all of which pose potential impacts on crop production, including crop failure and low yields. The findings show most farming households (99.5%) were growing DTCs—such sunflower, groundnuts, sorghum, millet, sweet potatoes, sesame, cassava, and cowpeas—as an adaptation strategy to drought impact on crop farming. These DTCs had enhanced water conservation, soil health, yield stability, food security, and financial security in the study area; leading to improved farmers’ livelihoods and enhanced adaptive capacity to climate change. In general, DTCs can potentially help most farmers improve crop production irrespective of extreme climate change scenarios. To further exploit the potentials of DTCs and enhance effective adaptation to climate change, it is important for the government and other stakeholders to provide the necessary resources and services, including weather information, to farmers in semi-arid areas.