Browsing by Author "Waudo, Stacey Nawanjaya"

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    Enhancing availability, access and use efficiency of biomass energy in rural agro-ecosystems in Kakamega County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2024-07) Waudo, Stacey Nawanjaya
    To date, most rural households in Kenya rely on wood fuel for domestic energy requirements, especially cooking. Increasing population is putting a lot of pressure on tree cover, its role in climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation notwithstanding. Therefore, assessing the biomass energy value-chain with the view of enhancing rural energy security is a policy option worth consideration. Accordingly, the overall objective of this study was to assess availability, accessibility and value-addition of biomass energy sources within rural households in Navakholo Sub-County, in order to contribute to policy options towards rural energy security, reduced energy footprints and increased tree and forest cover in the region. Spatial analysis using GIS procedures was used to track and map trends in land use and tree cover, hence biomass energy availability from 1990 to 2020. Social survey using questionnaires, Focus group Discussions and key informant interviews were used to gather the human interface with the land use and land cover dynamics focussing on availability, access, use-efficiency, value-addition and management practices around biomass and alternative energy sources. A total of 394 households were sampled through systematic random sampling. Questionnaire data was cleaned, coded and entered into an excel spreadsheet and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Focus Group Discussion and key informant interview data was thematised and subjected to content analysis, and finally used as narratives to enrich the results from the spatial analysis. Trends analysis showed a steady decline in tree and forest cover at 12.02% from 1990 to 2020. Chi square analysis revealed a significant relationship (p=0.000, df = 12) between tree cover and adequacy of fuelwood. Regression analysis showed that households that used charcoal and cow dung had appropriate tree cover. Chi square analysis revealed a significant relationship (p=0.000, df=3) between biomass energy and value addition. There has been an overall decline in tree and forest cover in Navakholo, thus affecting availability of biomass energy. Although Navakholo sub-county is a maize and sugarcane zone, value-addition on agricultural biomass through briquetting is generally non-existent. Much of the maize cobs are directly used as low energy fuel or simply left to rot away. Cow dung is mainly used as manure, instead of being also used as raw material in biogas production, because of the high initial costs. Although charcoal is a value-added product on wood fuel, respondents viewed it only as an energy alternative for those who could afford it. With appropriate exposure and capacity development, briquetting of agricultural biomass, particularly maize cobs has the potential to enhance rural energy security in the area. Overall, decreasing tree cover combined with a lack of value addition on the availability of biomass poses serious environmental implications for the future. As such there is need for an integrated strategy for increasing household tree cover of appropriate species; capacity building in value addition of agricultural biomass and increased adoption of improved cook stoves to enhance use efficiency of biomass energy. Creating incentives for alternative income opportunities to enable households invest in other energy options notably biogas energy, electricity and liquefied petroleum gas merit urgent attention at the national and county policy levels
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    Impacts of fuel wood scarcity and coping strategies among rural households in Lurambi District, Kakamega County, Kenya
    (2013) Waudo, Stacey Nawanjaya
    Rural households in Kenya are highly dependent on fuel wood for their energy needs. High population growth, deforestation at 20% (4061 ha degraded out of a possible 19792 ha according to the Kakamega forest management plan) combined with agricultural expansion has served to deepen the fuelwood crisis causing a considerable gap in demand and supply of fuelwood. This study, carried out in Lurambi District, Kakamega County examined factors contributing to fuelwood scarcity, its imapcts and coping starategies among rural houesholds.The study targeted households that were adversely affected and use with the resource on a daily basis. Questionnaires were administered to 200 randomly selected households between January and March 2012. An interview schedule was used for key informants. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for frequencies, percentages and cross tabulation. The findings of the study revealed that fuelwood is a dominant source of energy among 95% households in Lurambi with 84% of the households experienced fuelwood scarcity. The sources of fuelwood include the Kakamega forest and on farm sources. Deforestation, Government restriction towards accesing the Kakamega forest, restricted access to communal collection points cited by 52.5% of the households, privatization of land and reducing land sizes have contributed to fuelwood scarcity. The unavailability of fuelwood has had a negative impact on livelihoods particulary on women in terms of time and resources spent in the collection of fuelwood. Coping mechanisms include temporary switching to alternative fuels, use of energy saving stoves and minimal use of fuelwood in a bid to conserve the resource. Woodlots were observed in a few of the farms but was not considered a priority among the households as the emphasis was on agriculture. In conlcusion socio economic and environmental factors have an impact on fuelwood scarcity and that various coping strategies are employed in adopting to fuelwood scarity which are not sustainable in the long term. Recommendations inculde collaboration between the community and Government on benefit sharing within the forest, designation of communal collection points, sustained woodfuel production projects and introduction of affordable alternatives to the community.