Impacts of Climate Change on Sustainable Pastoralist Livelihoodsof Pokot Community in West Pokot County, Kenya
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Date
2023Author
Lolemtum, Joseph T.
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
West Pokot is among the adversely affected counties by climate extremes. The Pokot
community is mainly pastoralist, whose mainstay is on livestock keeping, a very fragile
livelihood to climate change shocks. The vulnerability of pastoralist to climate extremes
has been exacerbated by frequent strike of climate change hazards. This has contributed
to high poverty index among the residences, increased food insecurity, diminished
livelihood, and reduced livestock production. In order to address this gap, the study
examined the impacts of climate change on sustainable livelihood of pastoralist
community in West Pokot County. The study was further guided by the following specific
objectives: (1) to evaluate vulnerability of pastoralist Community to effects of climate
change in West Pokot County, (2) to examine impact of climate change on livelihoods
and livestock production in West Pokot County, (3) to evaluate community-based
adaptation and coping strategies that pastoralists adopt to mitigate the impacts of climate
change to pastoral livelihoods in West Pokot County, Kenya, (4) to evaluate the existing
framework, policies and practices that enhance sustainability of the pastoral livelihood in
West Pokot County, Kenya. The study used mixed method designs which included
qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data sets consisted of 384 questionnaires
for Household survey installed in ODK, 12 Key Informant Interviews and 8 Focus Group
Discussions. Respondents at household level were selected through random sampling,
while FGD and KII were selected through purposive sampling method .These data were
complemented with secondary data from Standardized Precipitation Index and
Vegetation Index cover for NDMA. Data at various points were analyzed using
vulnerability and capacity tool, normalized difference Vegetation Index, frequencies, score
and SPSS version 25. The results obtained from the analysis of the collected data were
presented in forms of tables, charts, graphs and narratives. The study revealed that
drought is the most threatening climate extreme in West Pokot, with pastoral livelihood
zone being more susceptible. It was further noted that majority of residence in West Pokot
County are pastoralist with 48%, agro-pastoralist at 32% and mixed farming at 20%.
Additionally, pastoralists are highly exposed to effects of climate change, with 59.5%
indicating high effects and 13.3% low effects. However, livestock body condition during
climate extreme event shows that 71.4% was in deteriorating condition, 26.8% was in fair
category and 1.8% was in good condition. Furthermore, the invasive and poisonous plant
species had spread into grassland, and it was suppressing indigenous pastures germination
and killing animals. The study also indicated that livestock was threatened
by livestock break diseases, pasture, and water shortage during drought period.
Consequently, forest cover had rapidly reduced in the entire county with increased
invasive plant species. Pastoralist were the most affected by climate extremes with 71.4%
of the respondents indicating very high, while the mixed farming was found to be less
affected with 12.2% of the respondents indicating very low. Furthermore, different
livelihood zones were affected differently with pastoral zone reported to be adversely
affected and it was found to be the most vulnerable zone. The study indicated that
pastoralists adapt to climate change by practicing pasture management, conservation of
crop residues as livestock feeds and designating seasonal grazing area, it was again found
that pastoralist coping mechanism during drought period showed that 63.5% migrate and
35.2% stay at home, and 0.3% distribute to friends/relatives, for livestock diseases
control. It further found that 45% of the respondents preferred livestock vaccination, 25%
of the respondents appreciated regular dipping and spraying as effective in disease
control. In terms of livestock breeds that are resilience to impacts of climate changes,
respondents indicated 53.9% goats and 23.7% camels. The level of significance is
between 90%-99% confidence level, with p-value of < 0.01. Sustainability of pastoralist
can be achieved through pasture management, livestock breed diversification and
livelihood diversification, enhanced disease surveillance and frequent livestock mass
vaccination. These results would be useful in developing climate change action plan that
can enhance the communities’ resilience to impacts of climate change. This study
recommends for strengthening community capacity on livelihoods and livestock breed
diversification and enhance pastoralist capacity on pasture establishment and rangeland
management systems.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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