| dc.description.abstract | This study was conducted to investigate the emergence of smallholder irrigation schemes
in Garissa District, and determine its impact on the ecology of the Tana riparian basin and
pastoralist socio-economy.
In Garissa District, the past quarter of this century was marked by serious problems
derived from an ecological, socio-economic and socio-political basis. Some of the affected
pastoralistswho were settled on the pen-urban fringes of Garissa town got exposed to flood-retreat
cultivation, which was traditionally practised by the riverine Bantu communities. In 1968 these
displaced pastoralists started irrigation agriculture with the assistance from non-governmental
organizations and the Kenya government. This eventually led to the mushrooming of irrigation
schemes along Tana River.
The survey instruments used for socio-economic data collection included interviews of
persons involved in irrigation farming, existing literature on irrigation schemes in Garissa, and
through questionnaire on pastoral and irrigation scheme households using stratified systematic
sampling procedure.
The Tana River Vegetation was assessed by analyzing vegetation attributes of basal cover,
canopy cover, species composition, species biomass and species density using transects and
quadrats. A two-way analysis of variance and Duncan's Multiple Range test were used to test for
differences between irrigated and non-irrigated sites. Vegetation analyses showed significant
differences for most of the attributes measured between the sites along a transect gradient running
perpendicular to the Tana River basin. This implied that clearing of riparian vegetation altered
resource exploitation patterns and, therefore, increased pastoralists' vulnerability to drought.
Binary choice regression analysis was used to evaluate the socio-economic consequences
of irrigation farming on Garissa pastoralists. The Maximum likelihood logit estimates of the
parameters tested indicated that irrigation schemes enhanced school enrollment, played a
supplementary role to pastoral economy, took away child labour from pastoralism and reduced
pastoral mobility. This implied that irrigation farming in Garissa does not offer competitive
solutions to pastoral activities. | en |
