Coping Strategies Applied by Child-Headed Households in Meeting Livelihood Security in Kagera Region, Tanzania

This study examines the coping mechanisms employed by child-headed households (CHHs) in achieving livelihood security in Bukoba and Muleba Districts, Tanzania. The increasing prevalence of CHHs, largely driven by factors such as parental death, illness, war, migration and socio-economic instability, has placed children in roles traditionally held by adults. The study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods design, in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously from 430 respondents through surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions. Both qualitative and quantitative data were carefully collected from primary and secondary sources. The findings reveal that CHHs adopt multiple coping mechanisms to survive under severe resource constraints. The most common strategy include meal skipping, engagement in labour-intensive work, begging, sale of farm produces and household assets, reliance on traditional herbs for healthcare and missing school. With over 76% of households experiencing food insecurity, meal skipping was the most prevalent. While these strategies enable short-term survival, they are largely exposing children living in the CHHs to long-term risks, including malnutrition, exploitation, and limited future opportunities.

Child-headed households, coping mechanisms

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