Abstract
The concept of resilience has gained momentum during the current climate change era. Resilience is said to be the measure of the amount of change the system can undergo while still retaining the same controls on function and structure. Taking into account the effects of changing climate, the term resilience has been used to assess the vulnerability of social-ecological systems. Most agroecosystem studies have focused on dryland ecosystems and this prompted the need to shift concern on to mountainous ecosystems whose susceptibility to climate change is not adequately addressed. This chapter assesses the resilience of maize-coffee-banana agroecosystems on the southern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Also, it assesses agronomic practices and the social-economic status of farmers and computes a social-ecological vulnerability index for the ecosystem. The study depicts variation of agronomic practices with altitude due to microclimatic differences, terrain and soil characteristics that determine the type of crops and their farming system which have both positive and negative implications. Climatic shocks (e.g. drought frequency, floods and below average rains) were found to have an impact on agricultural yield. Social-economic indicators (e.g. the number of household dependants, social safety nets, off-farm contribution, possession of land title, usage of wood for cooking energy and access to extension services) have also shown a significant influence on household vulnerability to changing climate which may later affect the agroecosystem productivity as these parameters are associated with the natural environment. Indicators chosen for the vulnerability index depict slight variations of vulnerability altitude wise, except for the mid-lower zone which appears to be more vulnerable.
Social-Ecological Vulnerability and Livelihood Improvement Strategies of Landslide Victims in Pattalikang Village, Gowa Regency in National Security Perspective
