The influence of natural gas investments on coastal livelihoods in Lindi Region, Tanzania

Recently, there has been an increased expectation from natural resources, including natural gas, which eventually created development opportunities. The overall objective was to understand the influence of natural gas investments on the local community's livelihood and sustainability in the coastal area. Specifically, it identifies the local community's socioeconomic characteristics, examines how the investment in natural gas influences local community socioeconomic characteristics and discusses significant factors contributing to resilience. The results indicate the potential positive and negative impacts of the natural gas investment projects with stronger emphasis and promising effects on communities' livelihoods. This investment has raised public expectations of natural gas investment. In addition, the study noted environmental and livelihood-related changes induced by natural gas investments. Thus, it suggests the need for a balanced understanding of negative and positive effects to reduce dissatisfaction arising from unmet expectations associated with natural gas projects. Furthermore, focus on executing the effective implementation of the existing regulatory framework to benefit host communities, minimize tensions and conflicts, and regularly monitor policy-making processes and implementation practices to ensure practical application of the current framework.