Assessing the impact of climate change on food security of communities in Turkana county.
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Date
2016-06Author
Burugu, Anthony N
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Climate variability and change is increasingly being recognized as a critical challenge to
pastoral production systems in the arid and semi-arid rangelands. The projected climate
scenarios are expected to aggravate some of the existing vulnerability of natural resourcedependent
communities, and likely to impose new risks beyond the range of current
experiences. An explicit understanding of households‟ vulnerability to climate variability
and adaptation strategies is, therefore, crucial for targeting appropriate resilience
interventions in pastoral environments. This study focused on better understanding of
climate variability and change impacts on food security, in order to provide insights on
pastoralists‟ risk management adaptations at a micro-level. In addition, the study
investigated vegetation responses to precipitation anomalies in Turkana County of Kenya.
The research study focused on using GIS and remote sensing tools and methods to
analyses the impact of vegetation changes on food security as a result of climate change in
Turkana County. This is because livestock has been identified as the main resource in this
pastoral livelihood zone and the pasture /Vegetation condition reveals essential traits about
the food security situation amongst pastoralist.
Satellite data, population data, livestock population data, covering period of 30 years
where available was recorded and analyzed to reveal trends and impacts of their variances
on food security. A sequence of NDVI datasets from the Advanced Very High
Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and precipitation datasets for Turkana County was
observed. Findings revealed that below normal rainfall occasioned by climate variability
and change is persistent with effects on vegetation greenness and consequently pastures
production in Turkana. Overall, the study area shows enhanced green vegetation coverage.
From the research is was noted that increasing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns
have an impact on the quality of pasture and browse in Turkana County, with the border
areas appearing more lush with stronger precipitation responses over time, probably due to
the conflict Prone nature of border areas, making them unsuitable as grazing lands.
The results will help improve knowledge and understanding of the intricate impact of
climate change on food security and hopefully lead to improved decision making in design
of polices and measures aimed and protecting vital livelihoods and improving or adapting
food security interventions’ in Turkana.
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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