A majority of the rural poor in Tanzania derive their income from agriculture. The most important input in the agricultural production is labour and the rain water. This situation implies that, very large proportion of population in the country is vulnerable to climatic change and variability. At the national level there exist various interventions in the agriculture sector to facilitate increased efficiency and productivity.
However, there is considerable complexity to adaptation and therefore careful analysis is needed to identify the appropriate financial instruments that meet the needs of recipients’ households in different geographic locations in the country. The the cost effective adaptation strategies to cushion smallholder farmers from the adverse effect of climate change and climate variability is missing. This study arises out of the apparent knowledge gap on the extent to which policy statements by national the government is being translated into actual investments and actions to address the climate change and variability at household level. The main objective of the project is to develop policy support tools for establishing cost effective climate change and variability adaptation strategies as well as create capacity and awareness of the rural households in Tanzania to participate in climate change initiatives and address the effects and challenges emanating from it.