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dc.contributor.authorMaina, Jedidah W
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-04T05:31:12Z
dc.date.available2021-02-04T05:31:12Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.identifier.urihttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/154666
dc.description.abstractThe study area was in Tigithi Sub-location of Kieni constituency in Nyeri County which is an Arid and Semi-Arid zone with unreliable rainfall and high temperatures. The area experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern. The study analysed seasonal average rainfall (1984-2013) and seasonal average maximum temperature (1983-2012) trends to detect the presence of climate change. To investigate changing farming patterns from 1987 to 2017, a sectional survey was conducted in 2017 in which 400 households participated. The percentage change detection in land use and land cover in the area was accomplished with the use of remote sensing and GIS. The study engaged the community in harvesting rain water which was used to grow Kale as supplemental irrigation whose results were compared to the same crop grown depending fully on the rains. Kale was grown in three seasons whereby each season produced a rain-fed and supplemental irrigated Kale. The growing of Kale involved farmer 1 and farmer 2 Analysis of seasonal average rainfall and average maximum temperature trends was calculated by the Mann-Kendall test together with Sen’s slope Estimator application using the MAKESENS template in Excel from the Finish Meteorological Institute. The March April May (MAM) rainfall season had positive average Mann-Kendall test value of 0.33 and positive Sen’s slope average value of 0.32 which was upward rainfall trend. The OND rainfall season had an average Mann-Kendall test value of -0.06 and an average Sen’s slope value of 0.02. The OND average rainfall results showed a decreasing rainfall trend. The highest mean rainfall for both seasons was experienced in April with over 115mm. The MAM and OND seasonal maximum temperature returned positive Man-Kendall test and Sen’s slope values. The average Mann-Kendal test for MAM season was 1.09 while the average Sen’s slope for the season was 0.016. The same tests for OND returned the values of 1.55 and 0.025 as the results for Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope respectively. The MAM and OND average maximum temperature trend analysis showed an upward trend. The highest mean temperature recorded for both MAM and OND season was in March with maximum temperature of 26.50C. The investigation of the changing farming practices in the study area as a result of declining average seasonal rainfall and increasing seasonal temperature, a sectional survey was conducted through administration of questionnaires and the collected data analysed with SPSS Statistics Version 23 program. The survey established that more than 70% of the farmers settled in the area from the 1990s and about 70% of them own farms of size of between 1 and 5 acres. Maize, potatoes and beans were the crops grown in the 1980s at 100%, 93% and 67.7% of the respondents respectively but reported to have declined in 2017 by 10.2%, 4.5% and 26.2% respectively. There was a significant rise in the growing of horticultural crops at about 30% from a low of 2% in the 1980s. The farming of Napier grass increased by almost 22% from low of 4%. Land use land cover changes in the study area for the 1987-2017 period involved downloading and processing Landsat images of 1987, 1995, 2002, 2010 and 2017. Land use and land cover in the area was categorised into the following six classes: bare areas, bushlands, farmlands, forest, grasslands and water bodies. The percentage cover of farmlands classification increased significantly by over 160% in 2017 from 1987. The forest percentage cover declined by almost 50% over the same period. Farming practices have been changing due to climate change from growing wholly rain-fed crops like maize and beans to growing horticultural crops and Napier grass. v Brassica oleracea (1000 headed kale) was grown both as rain-fed and under supplemental irrigation for three seasons each comprising of 14 weeks. The rain-fed and supplemental irrigated total Kale yields were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with a set significant level of 5%. The famer 1’s rain-fed Kale had a total yield of 18.5t /ha and the Kale grown under supplemental irrigation had total yields of 25t/ha an increase of 35%. Famer 2’s both rain-fed and supplemental irrigated Kale had total yields of 16.4t/ha and 26.4t/ha a 62% increase in yields. The increasing seasonal temperature and decreasing rainfall in Kieni as a result of climate change and climate variability occasioned changes on how farming was conducted. Horticultural crops farming was being practiced by more farmers. More farmers were getting involved with zero grazing as evidenced by the increase in growing of Napier grass. Local farmers can increase resilience in the face of climate change by adapting rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation which will increase crop yields by as much as 60% as in this study. The crops grown with supplemental irrigation will also provide soil cover reducing soil erosion and the dead foliage providing humus to the soil. Key words: Climate Change, GIS, MAKESENS, Land Use Land Cover, Water Harvestingen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Nairobien_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectRainfall And Temperature Trendsen_US
dc.titleRainfall And Temperature Trends, Farming Patterns And Rainwater Harvesting Technologies In Kieni Sub-Countyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US


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