Farming behaviour and perceived livelihood improvement in natural gas exploitation areas of sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Tanzania

The economic development opportunities linked to natural gas exploitation could benefit households in the areas where exploitation takes place, but the effects of exploitation will work through multiple channels, making overall impacts specific to local conditions. This study contributes to the literature by examining perceived livelihood improvements and changes in farming linked to natural gas exploitation in the Lindi and Mtwara regions of Tanzania. The study employed logit regression models. Findings revealed that few households changed their traditional crop production systems in either region. However, households levels of perceived livelihoods improvements differed considerably between the regions and were neutral in Mtwara but high in Lindi. Regression results revealed that where there were changes in farming and perceived livelihood improvements, these were associated with household socio-economic factors and with opportunities arising from the exploration and exploitation. These results should be considered in future policy formulation. Future studies can analyse the gender differentiated impact of natural gas exploration and exploitation. • Natural gas exploitation may have repercussions on farming behavior and livelihood perceptions. • Perceptions shape farming behaviour and attitudes on livelihood improvement. • Change in farming behaviour largely depends on the benefits of the crop production systems practised prior. • Households perceived livelihood improvement can be contrasted by socio-economic differences.