Th e Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) analyses of impacts of climate change suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of the population depend on rain-fed agriculture, economic activities are likely to be more vulnerable to climate change. Th is is so because the coping mechanisms of the indigenous communities in the rural areas are limited due to lack of appropriate technology. A survey of households and in-depth interviews with key informants in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), however, illustrate that local people in the LVB, through their informal institutions, have been developing diff erent strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change. Th ese fi ndings also suggest that the strategies developed are in most instances adaptive to the changing ecological conditions and are eff ective and useful in responding to natural resource constraints as caused by climate change. Th e strategies employed include: creating and implementing specifi c rules on access to and utilisation of some specifi c natural resources, such as those in the water catchment areas; creating and implementing rules on the type of crops to be grown (mainly cassava and sweet potatoes); creating and implementing restrictions