Tanzania has a total of 17.4 m cattle and 98% of this, is in the hands of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists involving
about 2.2 m people. The ongoing climate change (CC) is likely to have affecting pastoralists more negatively because
they are already living in marginal lands. Apart from this hypothetical thinking there has been inadequate empirical
evidence to substantiate this. Also the impact of the adaptation and mitigation strategies undertaken by the pastoralists
to address CC has not been analyzed critically.
The main objective of this study was to come up with an understanding of the impact of CC on pastoralists’ economy
in Tanzania. A total of 200 households were selected randomly from Ngorongoro District. There were also focus group
and key informant discussions. The results from this study will inform policy makers, donors and the pastoralists.
The study revealed a high level of livestock death due to mainly drought. Moving to urban areas for livelihood alternatives
has disrupted families and is preventing children from attending school because they are looking after the cattle.
Moving livestock to other parts of the country has caused conflicts over resource use, especially with farmers, to the
point of threatening peace in some places.