Contributions of Local Authorities to Community Adaptive Capacity to Impacts of Climate Change; A Case Study of Sea Level Rise in Pangani Division, Pangani District

Abstract

Communities around the world are facing tremendous climate change impacts, among others, sea level rise. Local authorities try to respond to the impacts of climate change by implementing localised adaptive measures to improve capacity. Impacts of climate change are worse in developing countries especially the Sub-Saharans due to inabilities to implement adaptive measures with inadequate resources; hence hindering the ability of communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change. It is the purpose of this chapter to explore the contributions of a local authority as one of the corresponding authorities responsible for enhancing a community’s adaptive capacity and its behaviour to climate change impacts. Interviews, mapping, observation and photographing, were conducted in the Pangani division in Tanzania. SPSS and QGIS software were used for analysis. It was found that sea level rise caused communities to suffer beach erosion, land inundation, saltwater intrusion, changes in fish availability, destruction of infrastructure and vegetation. The local authority implemented localised adaptive measures which improved adaptive capacity. These measures included construction and maintenance of seawall, planting and protecting mangroves and preparation of land-use plans. Also, an institutional arrangement involved different departments, committees and the community at large, with actors collaborating through the local authority in developing community adaptive capacity. This chapter recommends that the local authority should; enhance coordination among actors, make use of spatial analysis tools, mobilise resources and enhance community participation.

1 Introduction

Schrag et al. (2007) explain, the vast increase in human activities, such as deforestation and fossil fuel combustion, causes concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. These gases trap radiation from the earth’s surface, warming the earth, then causing global warming. The average global surface temperatures have risen about 0.7 °C since early in the twentieth century. The trapping of gas emissions leads to greenhouse effects. Human activities contribute to emissions causing climate change. These emissions spread throughout the globe affecting people everywhere in different magnitudes, leading to disruption of economies and affecting lives, at the cost of people, communities, and countries today, and even more in the future. Climate change impacts are now affecting every country on earth. People are facing tremendous impacts, such as changing weather patterns, extreme weather events and rising sea level (United Nations 2017).

Among the mentioned effects, the rise of the sea level is one of the most troubling aspects of climate change and is likely to persist in the future from the progressive melting of the glaciers in the arctic (Meier and Wahr 2002). In the last two centuries, the long-term global sea level change was recorded to be only a few centimetres per century. Since then, the rate of rising increased substantially, for instance, in the last 20 years, both satellite and coastal sea level data show the rate of sea level rise has increased to about three centimetres per decade (Union of Concerned Scientists 2013). Given this, sea levels are very likely to rise much more quickly during the twenty-first century than in the twentieth century and will continue to rise. This is mainly caused by two factors; expansion of seawater and the melting of ice from the arctic due to warmth (Australian Academy of Science 2015).

At the same time, the coastal zones have been seen to change profoundly since the last century owing to rapid urbanisation. Today, low-elevation coastal zones below 10 m contain about 10 per cent of the world population (McGranahan et al. 2007). Sea level rise is a serious threat to countries with high concentrations of population and economic activity in coastal regions. The biophysical effects of sea level rise on coastal regions are inundation, flooding, storm damage, wetland loss, erosion, saltwater intrusion, coral bleaching (sea water temperatures), ocean productivity changes, species migrations, and destruction of infrastructure (Dasgupta and Meisner 2009). Singapore for example, lies only 15 m above the mean sea level, with about 30 per cent of the islands less than 5 m above the mean sea level. Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat states that global warming could contribute to Singapore’s sea level increase by 9.5 m, leaving 745,000 Singaporeans’ homes submerged (Asuncion and Lee 2017). In the USA, there are cities and towns which are found within an elevation that could be flooded by the rise of the sea level. These areas are home to people, tourist destinations, fishing grounds, natural landscapes, military bases, financial centres, beaches and boardwalks, but they are all at the risk of sea level rise (Union of Concerned Scientists 2013). Flooding events and erosion have already been experienced in communities along the California coast and there is compelling evidence that risks will increase in the future (Heberger et al. 2009). Furthermore, in Southern Africa, sea level rise and human development are together contributing to losses of coastal wetlands and mangroves and are increasing damage from coastal flooding in many areas. Projections indicate increasing risks of coastal erosion, due to climate change and sea level rise. The effect will be exacerbated by the increase of human-induced pressures on coastal areas (IPCC 2014).

In Tanzania, as in other countries with coastlines, impacts of sea level rise are increasingly manifested in accelerating coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion in many parts of the coastal areas, and in some cases destroying mangroves due to strong sea waves. These impacts have been vividly observed in the coastal areas of Bagamoyo, Pangani, Rufiji, and Zanzibar. Other impacts include the submergence of small islands like Maziwi in Pangani and Fungu la Nyani in Rufiji; the destruction of coastal infrastructures (some beach hotels in northern Dar es Salaam, the Pangani seawall in Tanga), and some settlements along the coast. Thus, the sea level rise is one of the most challenging climate change issues which not only causes destruction of key coastal infrastructure and coastal livelihoods but also affects the local communities along the coasts, as well as the economic development in general.

2 Local Authorities’ Climate Change Adaption Strategies

Local government authorities have been impacted somehow both directly and indirectly by the effects of climate change. The impacts have been differently felt specifically by the communities and the local government of a particular area (Commonwealth of Australia 2007). Also, the impacts of climate change manifest at the local level, but the responsibility for an adaptive action does not lie solely with the local government alone. Effective adaption requires coordinated national leadership to support decisions made at the local level (NCCARF 2012). The local levels have been more important in mainstreaming climate change adaption for three reasons. Firstly, the impacts are manifested locally, affecting local livelihood activities, economic enterprises, health risks, etc. Secondly, vulnerability and adaptive capacity are determined by local conditions. Thirdly, adaption activities are often best practised and observed at the local level (OECD 2009). Due to these three reasons, the local authorities become the foremost organ in managing the impacts of climate change. They are mandated to prepare climate change adoption plans from city to settlement levels through policy options, such as early warning systems, health system’s preparedness and responses and urban/settlement planning/ land-use planning; housing improvements; asset management and protection (NCCARF 2012). The authorities deal with the protection of forests through tree planting in nearby hills for prevention of landslides and floods and the protection of mangroves along the coastal areas to enable them to act as a natural seawall that defends the land from storm surges. Climate change adaption should also include making existing and new infrastructure resistant to the effects of climate change. This is also the responsibility of the local authority (UN-HABITAT 2004).

In Tanzania, local authorities together with other actors are responsible for human settlement development and land-use planning that will improve and protect settlements of communities in climate change risk-prone areas. Other duties include enhancing land-use planning, promoting building standards to accommodate impacts of climate change, relocating of settlements from high-risk areas, and promoting and supporting effective land-use planning at all levels. According to the National Climate Change Strategy of Tanzania (2012), the President’s Office—Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) is working closely together with the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) through their various departments, in collaboration with lined sectoral ministries, to implement the strategic interventions at the local level (URT 2012) That being the case, local authorities along the affected coastal areas have been taking various initiatives towards adapting to climate change impacted sea level rise and its related effects. Therefore, this chapter intends to explore the effectiveness of local authorities in facilitating communities’ adaptive capacity to climate change impacts, specifically the sea level rise. It identifies and maps communities that are affected, explains measures taken by local authorities in developing community adaptive capacity to the impacts, and suggests adaptive measures to improve the capacity of local authorities in dealing with climate change impacts.

3 Strategies for Sea Level Rise Globally

As a global challenge climate change is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2015–2030. In its goal number 13, the SDGs argue for urgent actions to combat climate change and its impacts. In its targets 1–3, the goal insists on strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries, integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning, and improving education, awareness, and human institutional capacity to mitigations, adaptation, and impact reduction to climate changes. As explained in the previous section, local and regional governments, especially in cities, are often on the frontline in dealing with the effects of climate change. It is vital that these authorities’ capacities to deal with climate-related hazards and natural disasters are strengthened so that we can directly protect our communities, particularly the most vulnerable ones. Again, at the local level, leadership in the past has adopted bottom-up approaches in combating climate change and raising awareness, which has been seen to lead to impact reduction through early warnings. It is, therefore, essential that local governments, particularly in the most vulnerable cities, integrate climate change adaption and mitigation into urban and regional planning to reduce the emissions of our cities and increase their resilience to environmental shocks.

3.1 Structural and Non-Structural Strategies

Different countries have come up with different strategies in combating the impacts of sea level rise resulting from climate change. The state of California in the USA, has more than 2,000 miles of open coast and enclosed bays. The city of San Francisco has been more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, experiencing natural hazards such as storms, sea level rise, and extremely high tide. Two major measures have been adopted in San Francisco and California in general to develop adaptive capacity (Herberger et al. 2009). These measures are structural and non-structural. The structural measures involve the construction of dykes and dunes, seawalls, bulkheads, groins, breakwaters, beach nourishment, and raising existing structures and newly constructed ones (roads and railways). The non-structural measure is abandoning property and land to move to less threatened areas. In 2014, the city implemented “Guidance for Incorporating Sea level Rise into Capital Planning in San Francisco: Assessing Vulnerability, Risk, and Adaption” (ArcadisUS et al. 2016). The guidance provides direction to all city departments on sea level rise and how to incorporate it into planning. Furthermore, Arcadis US et al., identifies the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) which leads the Adapting to Rising Tides (ART) Program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The ART Program is a collaborative planning effort to help the San Francisco Bay Area communities adapt to sea level rise and storm event flooding.

3.2 Local and Transnational Self-Regulatory Activities

In Asian cities, Dhaka serves as an example of a coastal mega-city with a population of over 12 million inhabitants prone to climate change impacts. About 50 per cent of the city’s population live in low-lying areas where waterlogging and drainage congestion is common due to river floods and excessive rainfall. The city is engaging in mechanisms to solve these problems at the local and transnational level (Breitmeier et al. 2009). The people of Dhaka are predominantly relying on private, self-regulatory activities for flood management through transnational NGOs, private firms and CBOs that support the urban poor with food, water, medicines, temporary shelters and relief during floods (Breitmeier et al. 2009). The local government in Dhaka has engaged in a non-inclusive policy approach to various measures, and as such local communities are constrained from engaging with them. For example, the Greater Dhaka Flood Protection Project (GDFPP) was established in 1989 as a coordinated effort involving stakeholders in the city. A number of city structures were constructed or improved; these include embankments, flood walls, and infrastructure such as roads. Since the project was not inclusive, the embankments implemented saved people and properties from floods but also caused waterlogging and internal drainage congestion which becomes severe during heavy rainfall (Alam et al. 2007 cited in Breitmeier et al. 2009).

3.3 Regional Adaptive Strategies

Africa is one of the continents that faces a great impact from climate change. African countries’ local authorities develop community adaptive capacity as the continent experiences severe effects due to the high level of poverty among its people. Mozambique’s capital city Maputo has a geographical location that makes it highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as sea level rise. The capital is the most densely populated urban area with more than 70 per cent of its total population living in areas prone to floods, soil erosion, and other environmental hazards (Dodman 2012). The effects of sea level rise are becoming more and more familiar to the extent that they require expensive coastal management by the Maputo City Municipality. These effects include saltwater intrusion within the land negatively impacting agricultural activities, thus adding to the already existing urban poverty. There is a great reduction in the number of sand strips along the beaches due to continuous movement of the sea creating significant coastal erosion and impacting negatively on economic activities such as tourism (UN-Habitat 2011). Flooding incidences are becoming frequent in Maputo. The “Living with Floods” initiative aims to protect lives and livelihoods by building elevated schools and community halls at low cost in flood-prone areas (UN-Habitat 2004). The city council created two new departments for environmental inspection and management within the existing framework to strengthen the role of the municipal authorities in the mitigation and adaption measures (UN-Habitat 2011).

4 Conceptualising Community Adaptive Capacity

Other authors describe community resilience as an important concept for characterising and measuring abilities of populations to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner (Kruse et al. 2017). Kruse and others explain that the role of community is considered vital for building disaster resilience, yet community resilience as a scientific concept has been vaguely defined and lacks the guiding characteristics necessary for analysing and enhancing resilience on the ground. The embrace framework of community resilience (Fig. 8.1), as discussed in their paper on disasters published in Natural Hazards and Earth Systems Sciences provides an empirical tool for understanding, explaining, and measuring community resilience to natural hazards. The conceptual framework on community resilience is manifested across three principal areas: resources and capacities, actions, and learning. In addition, community resilience is also influenced by extra-community forces that govern disaster risk such as laws, policies and responsibilities on the one hand, and on the other, the general societal context, natural and human-made disturbances, and system change over time.

Fig. 8.1

(Source Adopted and modified from Kruse et al. 2017, licensed under CC-BY 4.0)

Conceptual framework

The framework is graphically portrayed in this way so that its application can assist in guiding the assessment of community resilience in a systematic way and identify the key drivers and barriers of resilience that affect a particular hazard-exposed community (Kruse et al. 2017). Community resilience surpasses the social-ecological understanding of resilience as it incorporates social factors such as perceptions, beliefs, institutional environment, and governance settings that influence or shape the capacity of communities to build resilience (Ensor and Harvey 2015). Other conceptual and empirical studies to date have indicated that community is an important scale at which to build resilience that can enhance both individual/household, as well as the broader population. Therefore, this chapter intends to explore the contribution of local authorities in building community adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change’s hazards and disasters, such as that of sea level rise which leads to flooding.

5 Methodological Approach

This chapter is based on explorative research responding to “what” and “how” local government contributed to building capacity for community resilience. In answering the how and what questions, a case study approach was considered an appropriate strategy to be used in researching how the local government contributed to community adaptive capacity to climate change in the Pangani district, Tanga region, in Tanzania (Fig. 8.2). Data collection methods involved household surveys in the community, official interviews with representatives of local government bodies responsible for disaster management, observations and mapping of the affected areas. Adaptive measures in the case study area were carefully and completely observed in social units. This chapter uses both qualitative and quantitative data. Photographic registration and mapping were used to describe and provide evidence on spatial information. Computer aided software such as SPSS was used for statistical data analysis and QGIS for processing spatial data.

Fig. 8.2

(Source Authors’ map on GoogleEarth 7.3, 2022)

Location of the Pagani division a Tanga region in Tanzania; b Pangani division in Tanga; c Pangani division

5.1 Location of the Pangani Division

The Pangani division, locally known as Pangani Town, is one of the four divisions in the Pangani district, the others being Mkwaja, Madanga and Mwera. The division is located 45 km south of Tanga City, at the mouth of the Pangani River which is one of the largest rivers in Tanzania. The Pangani division is made up of three wards. These wards are Pangani Magharibi, Pangani Mashariki and Bweni. The division has 10 hamlets: Pangani Mashariki has the hamlets of Funguni, Mkoma, Malindi and Gombero, while Pangani Magharibi has Kumba, Sokoni and Kinara, and Bweni has Bweni, Kikokwe and Mashado. The division covers an area of 39.01 km² which makes up 2 per cent of the Pangani district and it is bordered by Mwera, Madaga and the Indian Ocean (Fig. 8.2).

5.1.1 Sampling Design

This chapter applies both probability and non-probability sampling. The probability sampling method was applied in obtaining household surveys, with a total of 77 households interviewed in the Pangani division. The sample size was derived through Slovin’s formula as follows; $n{ = }\frac{N}{{\left( {{1 + }N \times {\text{e}} \times {\text{e}}} \right)}}$.

where: n = Sample population _ N = Total population _ e = Error tolerance.

Calculating for “n”

$n{ = }\frac{{{10500}}}{{\left( {{1 + 10500} \times {0}{\text{.05}} \times {0}{\text{.05}}} \right)}}{ = 385\, people}$

The average household size of Pangani Division is 5 hence $\frac{{{385}}}{{5}}{ = 77 }Households$

Proportional sampling was again employed to obtain the number of households to be interviewed in each ward. For Pangani Magharibi, Pangani Mashariki and Bweni there were 46, 22 and 9 households respectively.

The non-probability sampling was applied through purposive sampling. The selected interviewees were principally government officials and local leaders which included: Natural Resource and Environmental Officers from the Pangani District Council, the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, and the Ward Executive Officers (WEO) from the three wards of the Pangani Division mentioned above.

6 Climate Change Impacts Affecting the Pangani Division

In Pangani, it was observed that the main climate changes that are affecting the division are: change in rainfall patterns, increase in temperature, and sea level rise. The change in rainfall patterns was through varying rainfall seasons which are no longer predictable and are decreasing from three main rainfall seasons to two or just one per annum. These changes also cause the rainfalls to become either shorter or longer than expected, but in most cases, they are shorter and of high intensity. Change in rainfall patterns affects the wellbeing of the people in the Pangani division socially and economically, as recent crops such as coconuts hardly survive in Pangani due to the shortage of rainfall. Increase in temperature across Pangani and Tanga was also observed to have relatively fewer fluctuations throughout the year and an increase in temperature has been witnessed in most parts of the country and especially in coastal areas. Being located on the coast Pangani division also faced a temperature increase which impacted the ecosystem in Pangani and its residents since it led to heat stress. The annual long-term average temperature over the last 20 years ranges from 30.9 °C (maximum) to 23.1 °C (minimum). According to Tanzania Meteorological Agency (2018), over the last 20 years Pangani division and the Tanga region at large has experienced an increase in temperature of about 1 °C. This increase has effects on the environment, particularly the ocean, as the temperature increase in the surrounding area triggers seawater to expand more and more, which in turn causes sea level rise.

6.1 Sea Level Rise (SLR)

Sea Level Rise (SLR) is one of the recent and major climate change impacts witnessed in most of the coastal communities including the Pangani division. SLR is a serious threat to the Pangani division, and its effects can easily be seen all along the coast. The effects of the sea level rise became more alarming in Pangani when Maziwi Island began to submerge and erosion became prominent on natural features, as was seen when trees were eroded and washed away into the sea. Also, it was observed that the sea wall which was constructed during the colonial era had eroded badly due to the force of the high tides that had never been experienced before. According to one elderly respondent:

Many years ago, people used to cross over to Bweni by foot but as days go by the means of crossing over changed mainly due to technology improvement and the rise of sea level. We were using floating rafts but since land inundation happened and erosion of riverbanks, you can’t cross over by foot anymore.

According to Elasha-Osman (2006), the projected subsidence rates due to sea level rise are 15–95 cm from 2006 to the year 2100, where the rate of rising increases from 0.2 cm/annum to 1.1 cm/annum. Adapting the average rate of sea level rise, which is 0.65 cm/annum, a sea level rise of 53.3 cm by 2100 will inundate approximately 2 km² of the land in the Pangani division if no measures are taken in the adaptability of the division and district in general, even though this is approximately 5.3 per cent of the division land coverage. If no measures are devoted to addressing this, with this inundation infrastructure such as roads will be destroyed, coastal vegetation will be washed away, most beaches will vanish, and dozens of people will be left homeless.

6.2 Communities Affected by Sea Level Rise in Pangani Division

It was observed that Pangani division is the most affected division among the four divisions in the Pangani district, mainly due to its geographical location and topographical characteristics. Approximately 24 per cent of Pangani division is located below sea level (altitude of about −9 m). Literature indicates that the most troubling effect of SLR is flooding. However, there are also other effects of SLR such as beach erosion and destruction of infrastructure and vegetation, saltwater intrusion, land inundation and waterlogging. The communities of all of the ten hamlets in the division were affected differently depending on their proximity to the sea, the human activities conducted, and the population density. For example, the Mashado hamlet in Bweni ward does not directly experience the effects of SLR such as beach erosion, because it is not located along the Indian Ocean, hence the effects that were observed to prevail in Mashado and other hamlets away from the ocean included saltwater intrusion and flooding.

6.2.1 Beach Erosion

The Pangani division has a shoreline of about 13 km and approximately 80 per cent of it was observed to be affected by erosion. Erosion occurs mainly during high water tides when seawater hits the surface and washes away sand from the beaches. The loss of sand causes the beach to become narrower and lower in elevation. Beach erosion is evident in areas such as Kumba in Pangani Magharibi, Pangadeco in Pangani Mashariki and Kikokwe in Bweni (Fig. 8.3). Pangani division relies heavily on beach-related tourism as one of the major sources of revenue for the division and district in general. Now touristic activities are threatened due to beach erosion. Beach erosion also threatens coastal properties, buildings housing homes and businesses, and infrastructure such as roads.

Fig. 8.3

(Source Fieldwork, May 2018)

Effects of sea level rise in the Pagani district

6.2.2 Flooding/Waterlogging

Literature shows that areas that are facing SLR are prone to flooding/waterlogging during rain seasons mainly because SLR is accompanied by a rise in the water table of an area, and when the water table rises, the retention capacity of soil becomes high. The situation worsens if the area has poor or ineffective stormwater drainage, which leads to the likelihood of flooding. The Pangani division is currently experiencing the problem of waterlogging in streets and other areas for a much longer time than usual. Although this is little known to most of the inhabitants, according to much of the literature this phenomenon is caused by SLR.

6.2.3 Saltwater Intrusion

Saltwater intrusion affects approximately 69 per cent of the population in Pangani division. Salt water is seeping into the land, making it more saline which in turn makes the cultivation of crops difficult. Salt water is also getting into shallow wells/aquifers making their water saltier so that some of them are being abandoned (Fig. 8.3). The Pangani division also experiences crop failure for some crops such as coconuts, maize, cassava and banana in some areas caused by the increase in land salinity. This crop failure threatens the food security of the division and the district at large.

6.2.4 Destruction of Infrastructure

The infrastructures in Pangani division are at risk of destruction due to SLR. These infrastructures are roads, the seawall and buildings. The seawall that was constructed by the Germans in the late nineteenth century is to a great extent destroyed, primarily because seawater has come closer and the tides have become stronger, easily weakening the sea wall so that some parts began to collapse. Roads and buildings are destroyed mainly due to continuous inundation and erosion which is a result of SLR.

6.2.5 Destruction of Vegetation

Both inland vegetation such as conifer (locally known as mivinje), and marine vegetation such as mangrove (locally known as mikoko) are in great danger of destruction. This destruction will impact both biological and cultural resources located along the coast. In the Pangani division, approximately 8 ha of coastal vegetation has been lost due to prolonged and continuous erosion mainly caused by tidal water hitting the surface and eroding the soil (Fig. 8.3).

One fisherman from Kumba stated that:

Some years ago, this place had trees all over and the fishing camp wasn’t at this spot, but with time, trees were washed away, one by one, and now there is nothing, it’s only water as if nothing ever existed here.

6.2.6 Land Inundation

As the sea level rises, more land is being inundated by the sea and this has implications for the availability of land to put to various purposes such as agriculture and settlement development. In the Pangani division land inundation is evident in Kumba, Bweni, Kikokwe and Funguni where to date approximately 1 km² of land has been inundated (Fig. 8.3). As SLR persists, land inundation will continue to occur resulting in the inundating of approximately 200 ha (2 km²) of land by 2100 if no measures to tackle the issue are implemented before then. This will result in the destruction of infrastructures such as roads, coastal vegetation will be washed away, most beaches will have vanished, and many people will be left homeless.

7 Local Authority and Community Adaptive Capacity

It has been revealed that local authorities formulated various measures to develop and increase community adaptive capacity through both structural and non-structural measures. Among the various local authorities, the Pangani District Council (PDC) is taking measures to neutralise the impacts of SLR to its communities by developing adaptive capacity. These measures were categorised into two types: the structural measures and the non-structural measures. This section discusses how the PDC builds adaptive capabilities socially, economically and culturally according to the conceptual framework of this chapter.

7.1 Actions

7.1.1 Structural Measures

These types of measures are those that were observed as they were physically seen in the Pangani district. These measures include construction and maintenance of sea walls, planting and protecting mangroves and construction and maintenance of stormwater drainage. For some time, the PDC has been doing periodic maintenance of the existing seawall, which is wearing out fast, having existed since the 1890s (Fig. 8.4). This situation raised fear among the Pangani residents of being engulfed by the sea until the PDC asked for support from the Central Government via the concerned ministry.

Fig. 8.4

(Source Fieldwork, May 2018)

Structural measures in the Pagani division

The sea wall was under construction, and it involved two sides; the Pangani Mashariki and the Pangani Magharibi with 1,145 m (900 m completed), and the Bweni side with 665 m, on which the construction was yet to start (Fig. 8.5). Milman (2018) makes the case for planting mangrove forests as they are coastal vegetation considered crucial buffers to storms and saltwater intrusion and provide habitats for marine creatures. Therefore, mangroves are crucial for curbing the effects of SLR since they provide natural protection to coastal areas because they grow in salty water, maintain land stability and reduce the force of tides. In the Pangani division it was observed that mangroves were planted, and they were highly protected by the communities themselves through the Beach Management Unit (BMU) (Fig. 8.5). Along the Pangani River just beside the seawall, 21,000 mangrove seedlings have been planted across 10 ha of land, and more are expected to be planted in the division and the district in general (Fig. 8.4). However, in recent years, due to human activities mangrove forests have been cut down, but the PDC has been working closely with the community through the BMU to restore them (Fig. 8.4). With respect to stormwater drainage, the PDC through its department of works, worked closely with the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) to ensure that the streets were well drained by the construction of storm water drainage channels and their associated structures such as culverts (Fig. 8.5).

Fig. 8.5

(Source Fieldwork, May 2018)

Actions for community adaptive capabilities in the Pagani division

7.1.2 Non-Structural Measures

Adaptive capacity was also increased by the PDC in collaboration with other stakeholders. Through the action of awareness creation, education was provided to the Pangani residents on climate change impacts and their associated effects, as well as various environmental conservation issues. Awareness was created by conducting seminars and focus group discussions with various groups, such as fishermen, women and youth. It was found that the PDC has provided training to 65 technical officers on climate change impacts and how best to develop community adaptive capacity in a participatory way. Also, the PDC has provided training to all the BMU members of Pangani Mashariki, Pangani Magharibi and Bweni on climate change impacts and how to restore mangrove vegetation. Radio broadcasting was used in creating awareness; through it, education on environmental issues, illegal fishing and other concerns was provided, and citizens had an opportunity to call and ask questions of the experts involved. These are the actions that were taken by the PDC as a responsible local authority so as to build adaptive capacity. The following section discusses resources in relation to capacity which is the second component in the conceptual framework that the PDC has in building the adaptive capacity for the Pangani community.

7.2 Resources and Capacity

Through literature and evidence from empirical data, it was found that resources are important components in developing community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. These include human, technical and financial resources, which were applied in implementing both structural and non-structural measures. The PDC had the following resources and capacity in its process of developing community adaptive capacity to sea level rise as an impact of climate change.

7.2.1 Human Resources

This can be termed as the manpower, either skilled or unskilled, which can be used in executing different actions aimed at developing community adaptive capacity. Skilled manpower was such intellectuals as PDC staff, local leaders such as WEOs and other stakeholders from different organisations such as the Climate Action Network Tanzania (CAN TZ) and the Pangani Heartland Development Organization. These human resources and actors participated in different activities such as education provision and preparation of land-use plans, which in turn resulted in developing community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts within the division. Community members acted as both skilled and unskilled manpower. For example, manpower to implement various programmes, such as the restoration of mangrove forests, was obtained by mobilisation and sensitisation of community members through the BMUs. Moreover, this type of resource was applied in education provision, and consultancy services concerning climate change impacts and how best to adapt. Human resources of the local authority faced challenges since those available were not sufficient to address all the required activities that were scheduled to be performed by the PDC.

7.2.2 Financial Resources

Financial resources are also known as monetary resources that are used to implement actions both structural and non-structural to develop community adaptive capacity. The main sources of these resources are donor agencies, in-kind contributions, central government, NGOs and the PDC funds through the collection of taxes and levies. For example, resources that were used for the construction of the seawall were obtained through the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) sponsorship with a total cost of approximately TZS 2.4 billion under the programme of Addressing Climate Change Impacts on key infrastructure and settlements. However, as a local authority, the PDC has insufficient funds due to its low capacity in collecting taxes and levies within the district.

7.2.3 Technical Resources

Technical resources are equipment and expertise used or facilitating the implementation of adaptive measures. These resources include boots, hand hoes, laptops, projectors, radio calls, mobile phones, vehicles, etc. These resources facilitated actions such as patrol vehicle use as a technical resource and planting mangroves using boots and hand hoes. The sources of technical resources came from the PDC, central government, and actors such as CAN TZ, Saadani National Park (SANAPA), Sea Sense, and others who were interested in a particular programme or project. Again, according to official interviews with the PDC environmental officer, though resources were declared as scarce since impacts of climate change are addressed in a multidisciplinary way, the local authority was implementing their plans by collaborating with different stakeholders and sponsors.

7.3 Learning

Learning is the third and last component of community resilience to climate change identified in the conceptual framework. In this component variables that were considered are risk or loss perceptions, how the risk or loss is problematised by the community, the reflections of the risk/loss according to the local community, experimentation and innovation with adaptive measures, dissemination, monitoring and review of the strategies that can be, or that were used, in dealing with climate change effects and becoming resilient.

7.3.1 Experimentation and Innovation

In the Pangani division, the main actors conducting experiments and innovation are various NGOs which operate locally and nationally. One of these NGOs is Sea Sense which operates nationally and aims at conserving and protecting marine wildlife such as turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins and whale sharks. This marine wildlife is endangered mainly due to climate change and human activities. Sea Sense carries out different experiments and projects: fisheries management, education and outreach, sea turtle nest monitoring, cleaning up marine debris and many others. Furthermore, Sea Sense organises different community events each year to educate and create awareness on issues related to the impacts of climate change. These events usually take place during special events such as World Environment Day, World Oceans Day, World Sea Turtle Day and World Fisheries Day. These events combine entertaining games and challenges with more focus on conservation activities such as beach cleaning and tree planting. The other NGO that engages with experimentation and innovation is, CAN TZ which works closely with the PDC in creating and supporting small environmental projects which aim for climate change resilience within the Pangani district. Through these stakeholders the PDC was able to create experiments which led to innovation and different ideas and methods to deal with the sea level rise and other impacts of climate change within the district.

7.3.2 Dissemination

Dissemination of information in the Pangani division is through different institutions, organisations and individuals. The first form of dissemination is from the government institutions/organs which provide directives and information. This mainly involves the Vice President’s Office (VPO), the office of the Regional Administrative Secretary of Tanga (RAS-Tanga) and the PDC. The VPO through the ministry involved works closely with the PDC in ensuring climate change impacts are dealt with effectively. The ministry is responsible for providing instructions and guidance on climate change adaption strategies to the PDC and for funding the implementation of projects and programmes. RAS-Tanga acts as a bridge between the PDC and the VPO. The second form of dissemination involves governmental institutions, NGOs, and the community at large. In this form, the PDC works closely with organisations such as CAN TZ, Sea Sense, FORUM-CC, Pangani Heartland Development Organization (PHDO), the University of Zanzibar, Saadani National Park, and others in providing information and creating awareness on climate change issues to communities. Additionally, an NGO known as Uzima Kwa Sanaa (UZIKWASA) operates Radio Pangani FM (107.7 MHz) providing sessions to the PDC every Saturday at 17:00 h creating awareness of environmental issues, i.e. illegal fishing and other related issues. Afterwards community members are able to call in and ask questions of the officials. The third form of dissemination involves the community members through their local leaders such as the WEO, VEO, Village Chairperson and the BMU members. These local leaders usually inform the community members of the DOs and DON’Ts that can help in dealing with the impacts of climate change. They also convey messages from the PDC.

7.3.3 Risk/Loss Perception

In the Pangani division, risk/loss is mainly attributed to the described impacts of sea level rise. The community in the Pangani division perceived the beach erosion that affected 80 per cent of the shoreline as the most disturbing effect of sea level rise, which troubled 89 per cent of community members. Furthermore, land inundation was perceived as the second most troubling effect of sea level rise in the Pangani division, from which 80 per cent of the population was affected, and feared that Pangani Town might be engulfed, especially once the old seawall was destroyed.

7.3.4 Monitoring and Review

There were different actions which were taken to ensure communities in the Pangani division adapt to the ongoing phenomenon of climate change. This sequence of actions needed to be monitored and reviewed over a specific timeframe. Monitoring and review in Pangani division are mainly done by the government through the VPO and the PDC to help in determining whether the planned outputs and outcomes have been achieved. For example, the VPO set the FORUM-CC and the University of Zanzibar the task of creating awareness on climate change issues in the communities of the Pangani division and the district at large. To ensure that the intended outcomes and outputs of the task were achieved, the VPO in collaboration with the PDC conducted monitoring and review by receiving and analysing progress reports of the consultancy service, field observation, focus group discussions with communities, and baseline measurements.

8 Conclusions and Recommendations

This section summarises the conclusions and recommendations of this study based on the objectives and variables of the research.

8.1 Conclusions

The intention of this chapter was to explore the contribution of the local authority in developing community adaptive capacity to impacts of climate change, specifically sea level rise, as one of the critical climate change impacts facing the Pangani division. A number of effects were found that communities faced because of sea level rise. These effects threatened the sustainability of the ecosystem in the Pangani division and in turn the communities’ welfare was disturbed socially, economically and culturally. The PDC as the local authority involved came up with different approaches, strategies, and projects for developing community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts (sea level rise). According to the community resilience framework, the PDC undertook various adaptive actions, both structural and non-structural measures, aiming for preparedness, recovery, and mitigation. The local authority also provided learning mechanisms that were achieved through participation of the community by way of different activities and decision-making in the Pangani division. Findings show that about 75 per cent of the households participated in different adaptive measures in Pangani. This had positive results in developing community awareness; learning from the measures the adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. In terms of resources and capabilities of the community, the study found that despite the hurdle of inadequate resources that the local authority faced, they worked with different actors at different levels, as well as the community at large, to develop capacity for adaptive mechanisms. The local authority worked closely with the central government via the VPO and integrated other actors such as FORUM-CC, UZIKWASA, Sea Sense, UNEP, the University of Zanzibar, SANAPA and CAN TZ. They also provided human, financial, and technical resources and conducted different adaptive measures that contributed to community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. These actors were challenged by poor coordination since each actor worked independently with the local authority and not with one another for collaborative efforts.

8.2 Recommendations

The following recommendations arose from the emerging issues, findings and analysis: it is recommended to the local authority concerned and others of the like, to coordinate different stakeholders available so as to create a better community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts.

8.2.1 Beach Nourishment

According to various literature, beach nourishment is among the measures used to curb beach erosion. In San Francisco, beaches were highly eroded and failed to perform their functions until the local authority in collaboration with other actors undertook beach nourishment. It was a successful measure and the beaches were restored. The same could be applied in the Pangani division to revive the eroded beaches of Kumba, Pangadeco and Bweni. The local authority could implement this measure by collaborating with actors such as VPO, SANAPA and UNEP.

8.2.2 Using Spatial Analysis Tools

In developed countries such as the UK, local authorities use spatial analysis tools for the provision of stormwater drainage in rural and urban areas and succeed in establishing sustainable stormwater drainage that contributes to community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. This measure could also be undertaken in the process of planning and designing stormwater drainage systems as one of the structural measures for dealing with the impacts of sea level rise. This would facilitate the alignment of drains according to the terrain to enhance the functionality of the stormwater drainage system; thus, leading to community adaptive capacity. This measure can be implemented by the PDC, the department of works in collaboration with TARURA using GIS software, Global Mapper and others.

8.2.3 Resource Mobilisation

Management theory argues that it is important to have human and other resources to conduct activities of planning, organising, actuating and controlling performance to determine and accomplish stated objectives. Resources help in implementing projects and programmes which assist in developing community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. The PDC can mobilise resources through maximising efficiency and effectiveness in collection of taxes and levies, searching for donors and sponsors, the reallocation of funds, developing other sources of funds through tourism, for example, integrating more actors, and community sensitisation.

8.2.4 Enhance Community Participation

Community participation at all levels should be enhanced in the process of developing adaptive capacity to climate change impacts as it greatly assists in curbing the challenge of the scarcity of resources. This can be done by the departments of environment and sanitation as well as through community development and youth by collaborating with Sea Sense, CAN TZ and SANAPA.

8.2.5 Coordination of Actors

Actors that are responsible for developing community adaptive capacity to climate change should be coordinated with one another rather than working independently with the local authority and other institutions. The proper coordination of key actors will lead to cumulative efforts for better development of community adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. This can be done by the PDC, and the District Executive Director by involving all the actors and discussing how best they can collaborate and coexist to develop community adaptive capacity.