Adaptive capacity of evicted agro-pastoralists from Ihefu Basin in Tanzania

This paper looks at the adaptive capacity of evicted agro-pastoralists who were evicted from Ihefu Basin in Mbarali District and forced to settle in new resettlement areas. Household questionnaires, life stories, and focused group discussions with a sample of 110 resettled agro-pastoralists was used to capture the data. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed. The adaptive capacity index was used to determine the adaptive capacity of the resettled pastoralists. Findings revealed that the resettled pastoralists adopted different coping behaviors and livelihood strategies to adapt the resettlement areas. It was further observed that different livelihood capitals had different contributions on adaptive capacity among the resettled agro-pastoralists.Variations in the adaptive capacity of resettled agro-pastoralists were noted. For improving the adaptive capacity of resettled agro- pastoralists, the Government and other stakeholders should improve infrastructure such as rural roads, clean and safe water supply, schools, extension and veterinary services, reliable markets for agro and livestock products and marketing information. Key words: Adaptive capacity, agro-pastoralists, impoverishment, livelihoods, resettlement