Small-holder Farmers’ Perceptions of the Impacts of Climate Change on Maize Crop in Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

Farmers have different perceptions of the impacts of climate change. This study examined smallholder farmers’ perceptions of the impacts of climate change on maize crops in Dodoma, Tanzania. A total of 216 household heads were involved in this study. The study used a cross-sectional design, where structured interview, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. It was found that 69% of respondents perceived that climate change strongly has changed significantly over the last three decades. About 50.5% and 51.9% of the respondents highly agreed that climate change has contributed to the increase of weeds and pests or/and insects attack on the maize crops, respectively. The findings further revealed that age, farmland ownership, income, and education level of the small-holder farmers had a significant association with the perception of the impacts of climate change among smallholder farmers of maize at P<0.050. The study concludes that small-holder farmers’ perceptions of the impacts of climate change on maize crop are determined by their socio-economic and demographic factors. Thus, it is recommended that smallholder farmers should be provided with the sufficient knowledge of the impacts of climate change on maize crop so that they can have a proper understanding of the impacts of climate change and variability of maize crop. The farmers could use that knowledge to improve productivity. Keywords: Perception; smallholder farmers; Climate Change, Maize crop.