Browsing by Author "Isaiah Ochieng Abillah, Dr. Benson Mwangi, Prof. Richard Juma, Prof. Clifford Machogu"

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    Gender Roles in Wetlands Conservation and Restoration in Murang’a County, Kenya
    (International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI), 2021-06) Isaiah Ochieng Abillah, Dr. Benson Mwangi, Prof. Richard Juma, Prof. Clifford Machogu
    Women are the majority vulnerable in wetlands access and control, yet livelihood provisioning services bring her in direct contact with and control of wetlands on a daily basis. Murang’a County is majorly a patriarchal society and women continue to experience the worst forms of oppression and exploitation in environmental management. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine the gender roles in community- based strategies aimed at Wetlands conservation and restoration in Murang’a County, Kenya. It adopted a descriptive survey design with a target population of 144,376 divided into four Sub-Counties of Murang’a. Simple random sampling was used for each stratum to select a sample of 404 respondents. Key Informant interviews, focus group discussion, and documentary analysis were used to corroborate responses from the questionnaires. Qualitative data were coded before the analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0. Continuous variables were analyzed using a Chi-Square test and P values of <0.05 at 95% confidence interval level was considered significant. The study revealed that there is gender inequality in conservation efforts due to poor policies, beliefs, lack of knowledge, and skills. The study thus recommends effective gender role equity in wetlands conservation efforts.
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    Sustainability of Livelihood Strategies of Riparian Communities in Murang’a County, Kenya.
    (nternational Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI), 2021-06) Isaiah Ochieng Abillah, Dr. Benson Mwangi, Prof. Richard Juma, Prof. Clifford Machogu
    Wetlands have played a key role in support of the riparian community’s livelihoods and development and have been the source of forest, wildlife, minerals, agriculture, recreation, water and energy. Murang’a County in Kenya, is endowed with many such wetlands that provide water to nearby towns of Thika and Nairobi city. Despite these important roles, wetlands conservation and management in the county continue to attract little attention from scientists and policy makers. This study aims at investigating the livelihood strategies of riparian communities in Murang’a County, Kenya. This study aimed at investigating how sustainable the livelihoods strategies are of the riparian communities are in Murang’a County. The study was conducted in four purposively selected sub-counties, due to their richness in wetlands: Kiharu, Kangema, Mathioya, and Maragua. Data was collected using household’s survey questionnaires, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion. Questionnaire were administered to a randomly selected sample of 404 respondents from the riparian community in the four sub-counties. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0. Chi-squared test was used to test for association between livelihood strategies and effects of encroachment into wetlands. Rejection value for statistical tests was set at P< 0.05. Results showed an encroachment rate into the wetlands by the riparian communities of 60.4%. It is concluded that livelihood strategies of riparian communities were not sustainable due to a high rate of encroachment, inadequate enforcement of laws and policies, On the other hand, over exploitation of wetlands resources, lack of knowledge on wise use of wetlands and conflict of interest among different environmental conservation institutions among other factors, were impacting negatively on wetlands conservation in Murang’a County. The study recommends enhanced sustainability of livelihood strategies of riparian communities through empowerment, capacity building and well-coordinated livelihood strategies by all stakeholders in wetlands management that will lead to the wise use of wetlands ecosystems in Kenya and in other parts of the world.