Risks of Climate Change to Agro-pastoral Development in Mandera County, Kenya
Climate change is one of the biggest long term challenges to global development. It is predicted that Africa will be the hardest hit region in terms of catastrophic natural disasters. The high vulnerability of the continent to the impact of climate change results from the fact that Africa as a whole has a high dependence on natural resources, poor infrastructure, pervasive poverty and weak institutional capacity to respond and mitigate environmental disasters effectively. In Kenya, Mandera County is characterized by fragile and sensitive ecosystem and, has been facing droughts, floods, epidemics, livestock diseases and conflicts whose impacts have caused devastation. The objective of this study was to determine the risks of climate change to agro- pastoral development in Mandera County, Kenya. Cluster random sampling, multistage sampling and simple random sampling were employed in the sampling strategy. Questionnaires, interview schedules, key informant questionnaires, focus group discussion and observation schedule were the key data collection instruments that were employed and to measure their reliability, Alpha (Cronbach) technique was utilized. The co-efficient of internal consistency was established at 0.86. The study used a sample size of 384 household heads and 72 key informants. Statistical Package for Social Scientists, chi-square statistical method and Ms excel were used for data analysis, and ethical considerations was upheld throughout the study period. Three stratums based on the setups, rural and urban with each having 2 constituencies were selected. A total of 3 (Mandera North and Mandera South from the rural category and Mandera East from the urban category) political constituencies were selected. A sample size of 384 household heads was selected using the Fisher formula. Out of the 384 household heads, 21.4% (82) of household heads revealed that climate change has led to loss of livestock, 18.5% (71) indicated scarcity of water and pasture, 11.7% (45) cited crop failure, 12.2% (47) said decline of livestock market price, 7.0% (27) diseases outbreak and 17.2% (66) results to conflict. Effects of climatic change on pastoral and agro-pastoral lifestyle included; loss of livestock 19.8% (76), violent armed conflict 16.4% (63), food insecurity and malnutrition, 15.9% (61) loss of social ties 15.1% (58) and reduced livestock productivity 12.7% (49). The most common livestock diseases in Mandera County were; foot and mouth disease 18.2% (70), tuberculosis (14.1%), east coast fever 12.5%, cattle bloat 12.2% and vector borne diseases 10.7%.
Climate Change, Community Livelihoods, Risk Management
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