RP-School of Environmental Studies

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Browsing RP-School of Environmental Studies by Subject "adaptation"

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    Assessment of Beach Hotels Adaptation Capacity to Climate Variability : The Case of Mombasa County , Kenya
    (Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA, 2014-02) Koske, James K.A.; Dzoga, M. N.
    Climate change has been a worrying issue all over the world. The variability in terms of intensity and frequency of rainfall, wind, and temperature has impacted various ecosystems and economic activities especially in developing countries. Low lying coastal regions are vulnerable to the rise of sea level and storms. This affects the tourism economy which is a primary economic activity among the beach hotels in Mombasa County. In order to sustain tourism economy, the beach hotels need to cope with prevailing climate variability. This study, therefore, assessed the capacity of beach hotels to cope with climate variability in Mombasa County, Kenya. Chi-square analysis showed no significant difference on on-shore vegetation cover, rainwater harnessing and establishment of seawall barriers (P > 0.05). Strategies established by the beach hotels in Mombasa County were not effective to cope with climate variability thus are unable to sustain tourism economy during climate variability era.
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    Perception of Adaptation Strategies to Climate Variability in Machakos County, Kenya
    (AJGR, 2023-12) Henry, Joseph Ndolo; Koske, James B.
    The study was designed to assess climate variability trends on rainfall and temperature data between 1990 and 2020, analyse community perception to climate variability, evaluate adaptation strategies and their effectiveness and examined the challenges of adaptation to climate variability. Farmers were randomly selected and questionnaires administered, while focused group discussions were conducted to obtain farmer’s perceptions of climate variability. Rainfall and temperature data was statistically analysed using Mann Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator (p<0.05. The study found out there was a significant variation in the amount of annual rainfall received of (p< 0.004) (S= -53) which showed a decreasing trend, while temperature showed a warming trend of (p>0.099) (S=29). Also, farmers perceived that climate variability events were real with (71.1%) and (68.0%) noticing a change in rainfall and temperature respectively over the same period. The study established that community perceptions on rainfall and temperature trends agreed with meteorological data on observed climatic trends. Planting of drought resistant crops was most popular with (89.8%) (n=255) agreeing, while (79.2%) said it was the most effective strategy. The study found that although some farmers have adopted some adaptation strategies, they were constrained with (82.4%) agreeing that age was a great challenge to adaptation and had a moderate negative correlation with adaptation of (0.097) with labour and (25.5%) saying it was not a challenge. The study recommends farmers use the study findings on rainfall and temperature trends and data recordings on local agricultural performances to enhance their ability to adapt. To researchers and academic community the study recommends the intensification of research on ecosystem-based adaptation and the use of the results in mainstreaming policy making, planning and implementation of climate related decisions. The results reveal important knowledge that if effectively applied will inform the county government in climate management decisions and reduce farmer’s vulnerability.
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    Small Scale Farmers’ Perception of Institutions and Information Channels on Climate Change and Adaptation, Embu County, Kenya
    (Academic Journals, 2021) Kangai, Ruth; Wemali, Evelyn Chitechi; Koske, James; Waswa, Boaz; Ngare, Innocent
    This study assessed the small scale farmers’ perception of institutions and information channels on climate change and adaptation in Embu County, Kenya. A survey was conducted on 411 households and 25 key informants on their perception of institutions and information channels towards climate change and adaptation where stratified random and purposive sampling was done respectively. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics, chi-square, linear regression, and Likert scale analysis. The results showed that formal institutions are more likely to influence small scale farmers’ ability to perceive climate variability risks and opt for adaptation mechanisms. Out of twelve information channels identified by the farmers, only five are more likely to influence climate variability adaptation mechanisms. While life-experience was the only channel significant to perception on climate variability impacts on agriculture. On the access and utilization of climate-related information, small-scale farmers are in a position to implement although many barriers were cited. The results indicate the need for the farmers, agricultural, and climate-related institutions to work closely to enable co-learning to raise awareness and to help disseminate agricultural-related information.