| dc.description.abstract | Kenyatta Settlement scheme is situated in Mpeketoni Division of Lamu County and was in 1977-1978 to settle the jobless and landless people of Coast and other areas of (GoK 2004). It was implemented through the Kenya-German Cooperation under the German-Assisted Settlement Programme. Lamu County with a total land area of 6,167 km2 is categorized as a dryland with less than 300 mm annual rainfall.
The Lamu ecosystem is characterized by marshes, mangrove wetlands and terrestrial vegetation. Over 4034km2 of the Lamu ecosystem has already been settled. Human settlement and intensive cropping practices in this fragile ecosystem has fragmented and degraded its functional value of supporting sustainable socio-economic livelihoods of settlers.
The Main objective of this study was to analyze the environmental impacts of establishing human settlement schemes in Kenya using Lake Kenyatta Settlement Scheme as a case study. The study assessed the impacts on different environmental components. The study investigated the relationship between vegetation cover and the number of acres of crops grown per household. This was done through the hypothesis stated as 'there is no significant relationship between vegetation cover and the number of acres of crops grown per household'.
A sample size of 70 households drawn from the 3,500 Lake Kenyatta phase 1 settlers was used. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered by trained research assistants while an interview schedule was administered to local community-based organizations (CBOs) officials and County Departmental heads. The study targeted Lake Kenyatta Water Users Association (LAKWA) a CBO involved in the management and supply of water to the settlement scheme. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to analyze and present collected field data. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) was used to analyze primary
data.
The study established that settlers in Lake Kenyatta settlement scheme have negatively impacted on the environment. The impacts stem from cropping practices, as 70% of the settlers who practiced continuous cultivation, had recorded crop production decline. In addition households had to increase the area of land under crop by clearing vegetation to open new fields forfood production. This is depicted by a significant Pearson Correlation Coefficient (-0.876) between the natural vegetation cover decline and cropland increase in acres per household (a=0.05). Further, household water demand increased from 7m3 per day in 1994 to 269 m3 per day in 2009. This trend has exerted pressure on fresh water boreholes whose recharge rate of 10.384 m3/min was lower than the abstraction of 13.689m3/min at the time ofthe study.
The study concluded that the adoption of agricultural production practices such as crop rotation and fallow periods after a given span of time will surmount the decline in soil fertility and crop production decline. In addition, the intensification of agricultural activities around riparian areas further poses a threat to access of clean drinking water by households in Lake Kenyatta Settlement Scheme.
The study therefore, recommended that policy instruments establishing settlement schemes should be informed by demands of the local communities and requirements for environmental sustainability. The policies have to address the access and demand for water resources as well as attaining sustainable socio-economic livelihoods for communities being settled. Finally, settlement scheme policies should address the possible negative impacts on different ecosystems arising from different land uses. | en_US |
