“I am fighting the best I can” : Women’s adaptive capacity when facing rain variability in Paje,Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Abstract: Many of the world’s most impoverished populations rely on farming, hunting and gathering to eat and earn a living where people often have just enough food and assets to last through the next season, and ultimately inadequate reserves to fall back on in the event of a poor harvest. Rural resource-dependent livelihoods are embedded in high risks, as climate variability and climate extremes are additional stressors to poverty. They often have limited livelihood options and few economic opportunities to adapt and compensate for unforeseen events. This research is a contribution to the limited and narrowed research of Zanzibari coastal people’s livelihoods’ exposure to rainy seasons. Based on women’s distinctively vulnerable position towards poverty, this research addresses single mothers, and their experiences of forming and maintaining their livelihoods during rainy seasons, in the coastal village of Paje, on Zanzibar, Tanzania. The intention is to outline these women’s exposure to rainy seasons and their range of adaptive capacity to maintain a sustainable livelihood. The research method is semistructured interviews with 30 single mothers living in Paje village, Zanzibar. The analysis is guided by the sustainable livelihoods framework to conceptualise the complex dynamic systems of poor rural livelihoods. The results reveal that seasonal transition to rainy season generates several constraints for single mothers to sustain their livelihood security throughout the rainy season. Women experience instability in their livelihood security, with extensive shortfalls in their income levels. These losses are further linked to food insecurity, destruction of homes, health issues and many other socioeconomic disadvantages. The women’s most persuasive survival strategy relies on their social capital of donations or loans from friends, families and neighbours. Hence, their level of adaptive capacity is affected by several other factors, such as inadequate institutional support and infrastructure, poor education and issues of gender inequality.