Social vulnerability of clove farmers to impacts of climate change and variabilityin pemba island, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Clove industry supports significantly Zanzibar economy and leading sector for foreign exchange earning in Zanzibar. The objective of this study was to examine social vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) of the clove farmers in Pemba Island to the impacts of climate change and variability. The study covered four districts of Pemba Island (Mkoani, Chakechake, Wete and Micheweni). The livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and LVI-IPCC scores were used to assess components of vulnerability of the households. A total of 360 households were surveyed during this study. The main assessed parameters were socio-demographics profile, livelihoods, social networks, health, food and water security, natural disasters and climate variability and energy resources. The overall LVI index for Mkoani, Micheweni, Wete and Chake chake were 0.5261, 0.5148, 0.5061, and 0.5016 respectively. Likewise, LVI-IPCC scores were 0.0770, 0.0729, 0.0602 and 0.0269 for Micheweni, Mkoani, Chake chake and Wete districts, respectively. The results showed the sources of vulnerability differed within and between the four districts. The overall LVI-IPCC scores indicate that the level of vulnerability varies the sampled districts based on the degree of the dependence of clove industry for their socioeconomic activities.