The Determinants of Grapevine Farmers’ Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in Dodoma-Tanzania

Abstract: The socio-economic livelihoods of grapevine farmers can partly be improved through their ability to avert the impacts of

climate change circumventing grapevine production. Grapevine farmers’ ability to cope with climate change is determined by the

application of adaptation strategies which minimize impacts on grapevine production. However, the influence of grapevine production

factors on grapevine farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change is not well known. This compelled to carry out a study on key factors

of grapevine production and their influence on grapevine farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change in Dodoma, Tanzania. Crosssectional

research design and mixed research approaches were adopted. Purposive and random sampling procedures were employed.

Data were collected through a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, interviews, observations, and documents review.

Quantitative data were analysed using IBM-SPSS software while the qualitative data were analysed through content analysis. Findings

showed that grapevine famer’s adaptive capacity to climate change was mainly determined by the farmers’ access to: skills on grapevine

production and adaptation, financial capital, water sources, land ownership, market, and grapevine production infrastructure. Farmers’

adaptive capacity to climate change was observed promising by family land ownership, availability of Agricultural Research Institute

(ARI)-Makutupora, and Microfinance Institutions, and existence of other sources of income. Farmers’ adaptive capacity was affected by

inadequate skills on grapevine production and adaptation by the Agricultural Extension Officers (AEOs), unreliable grapevine market

with more petty traders buying grapevines at low prices, unreliable rainfall, and poor grapevine infrastructure. This informs the

agriculture policy makers to address these aspects that influence grapevine farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change. It is

recommended that: Central Government (CG) and local Governments (LG) should train the AEOs on grapevine production, LG should

facilitate farmers to join SACOSS, and CG and LG should improve grapevine infrastructure.