Tanzania: Climate-Change Awareness in Tanzania Remains Low, but Those in the Know Request Strong Action

Gerd Altmann /Pixabay
(file image).
10 September 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Cornel Jahari and Jane Mpapalika

Eight in 10 citizens aware of climate change say it is making life worse.

Key findings

  • About three in 10 Tanzanians say crop failures (30%) and floods (28%) have intensified in their region over the past decade. o Tanzanians are more likely to say that droughts, land erosion, and mudslides have become less rather than more severe over the same period.
  • Although awareness of climate change in Tanzania has increased by 7 percentage points since 2022, it remains low: Fewer than four in 10 people (38%) have heard of it. o Awareness is four times as prevalent among people with post-secondary education (76%) as among those who lack formal schooling (19%), and is higher among urbanites (48%) and men (43%) than among rural residents (31%) and women (32%).
  • Among those who are aware of climate change: o Eight in 10 (80%) say it is making life in Tanzania worse. o A similar proportion blame climate change on human activities such as deforestation and pollution (76%) or a combination of human activities and natural processes (5%). o More than half (54%) believe that people, businesses, and governments in other countries are the main contributors to climate change, while 42% attribute the crisis to the actions of people, businesses, and the government of Tanzania. o Nearly nine in 10 say wealthy nations should help Tanzania address climate change (89%) and should take immediate action to curb the crisis (88%), while almost as many (82%) expect the Tanzanian government to take immediate action.
  • About two in 10 citizens say they have adapted to changes in weather patterns by changing the types of crops they plant or the types of food they eat (22%), reducing their livestock holdings or adjusting grazing patterns (20% of those with livestock), or relocating (18%). More than one in 10 have adjusted their outdoor working habits (14%) or reduced their water consumption or changed water sources (11%).
  • There is widespread support for government investment in climate-resilient infrastructure (93%) and for demands for financial support from wealthy nations (84%). o Smaller majorities endorse policies that require changes in daily habits, such as banning tree cutting (59%) and adopting cleaner cookstoves (58%).

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In 2024, the world experienced the hottest year on record, another milestone on the relentless march of climate change (World Meteorological Organization, 2025). Tanzania, despite being among the lowest emitters of globe-warming greenhouse gases, is heavily affected by climate change, including through droughts and shifting weather patterns (Mpapalika, 2024). The cumulative effects of these changes, especially increasingly erratic rainfall, are undermining Tanzania's traditional farming practices and reducing agricultural productivity. Meanwhile, Mount Kilimanjaro, a national icon, has lost more than 80% of its glaciers over the past century (Vice President's Office, 2021a).

Owing to limited financial resources, weak institutional capacity, and high dependence on climate-sensitive sectors (e.g. agriculture), among other factors, Tanzania is ill-prepared to confront the effects of climate change (Irish Aid, 2018; Vice President's Office, 2022). As of 2023, the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (2024) ranked Tanzania high in vulnerability to climate change and low (145th out of 187 countries) in readiness to address its impacts.

Starting with the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in the early 2000s, Tanzania has undertaken multiple initiatives to address climate change. In 2018, the country ratified the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming and affirmed its commitment to implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs): country-specific, non-binding plans that outline measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions (Khatibu, Mchallo, Gontako, & Msami, 2022).

Under its NDC framework, Tanzania has implemented a broad range of sector-specific climate mitigation and -adaptation measures, including climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies, reforestation and afforestation programmes, renewable-energy initiatives, infrastructure and services to enhance livestock resilience, improvements to early-warning systems of sea-level rises and extreme weather events, management of coastal and marine resources and monitoring systems, and the promotion of eco-friendly waste-management practices (Vice President's Office, 2021b). The government established the National Carbon Monitoring Centre (2024) to collect and analyse data on greenhouse-gas emissions. The private sector has also taken action: For example, CRDB Bank this year facilitated the issuance of green "Kijani" bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (2025) to raise funding for climate-resilient investments.

A special question module in Afrobarometer's Round 10 survey (2024) explores Tanzanians' experiences, awareness, and attitudes related to climate change. Survey findings show that fewer than four in 10 Tanzanians have heard of climate change. Education plays a major role: Individuals with post-secondary education are four times as likely as those without formal schooling to know about it.

Among those familiar with the concept, eight in 10 say climate change is making life worse, while even larger majorities call upon the Tanzanian government and rich countries to act.

Across all respondents, fewer than one-third say natural disasters such as crop failures, mudslides, droughts, floods, and soil erosion have become worse in their region over the past decade. But at least one in 10 have responded to changing weather patterns by relocating or adjusting their water use, food consumption, outdoor work habits, or livestock grazing patterns.

Overwhelming majorities want the government to pressure rich countries to give Tanzania climate aid and to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure. Smaller majorities support banning tree cutting and promoting cleaner cookstoves.

Cornel Jahari Cornel Jahari is the Researcher/Fieldwork Manager at REPOA.

Jane Mpapalika Jane Mpapalika is a senior researcher for REPOA, the Afrobarometer national partner in Tanzania.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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