challenges and opportunities in collective action for manging communal natural resources: study of Shompole Wetland, Kajiado district, Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorNelson Mango
dc.contributor.advisorDeborah Nightingale
dc.contributor.authorKuloba, John Damascene Mabala
dc.date.accessioned2011-08-18T12:39:21Z
dc.date.available2011-08-18T12:39:21Z
dc.date.issued2011-08-18
dc.descriptionAbstracten_US
dc.descriptionDepartment of Environmental Studies,119p.QH 77 .K4K83 2010
dc.description.abstractThis research set out to investigate challenges and opportunities to collective action in managing communal natural resources derived from Shompole wetland in Magadi division, Kajiado district. Magadi division is classified as a semi-arid area with annual average rainfall being less than 500mm. Hence the wetland is a critical dry grazing resource to the pastoralists in the area whose livelihood depends, fundamentally, on livestock. The swamp has traditionally provided a seasonal grazing area for Shompole group ranch when other pasture areas are in seasonal decline. Further, the swamp is a wildlife haven for grazing and watering during the dry season. However, as the population increases, coupled with changes and diversification of income in the area and changes in the whole Ewaso Ngiro ecosystem, and continuous breakdown of community institutions, the swamp is now used non-discriminately all year round. This is because the swamp is available to everyone in common; each person has the incentive to use as much of the swamp as they want, even though the collective result has been the destruction of the swamp, making it increasingly unable to sustain the large number of livestock taken there during the dry season. The problem is further compounded by abstraction of water up-stream Ewaso Ngiro River for irrigation and the lack of agreeable community management structures that can advance controlling the misuse of the swamp. This research therefore set out to identify resources the community and its environs draw from the swamp; investigated community rights to the use of Shompole swamp, social relations of resource users, resource extraction values and norms, procedures for monitoring and countering opportunism through social sanctions and conflict management; and challenges and opportunities for sustainable use of the swamp. The study employed both primary and secondary data. The latter was collected from different sources such as books, journals, and seminar presentations while the former was achieved through key informants' interviews, Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRA) methods using focussed group discussions, and questionnaire surveys. These methods generated both qualitative and quantitative data that was analysed using statistical packages such as chi-square tests, correlation, frequency analysis, and exploratory data analysis including histogram and radar/rose plots. Key findings on the challenges to resource management in the study area include: cultural conservatism against modernity examplified by traditional animal husbandry pracitices that are in conflict with modern modes of production, usurpation of emerging and alternative economic activities by outsiders, conflict of private against public resource tenure systems, and low levels of education, among others. Opportunities for improved livelihoods and resource management in the study area include: a vibrant market economy supported by toursim within reach, availability of abundant natural resources for exploitation, for example, wildlife, minerals, water resources, and agricultural potential in the study area. The study recommended a monitoring strategy to map grazing system and movement of livestock in the swamp, wetlands policy that focuses on comanagement to enhance output and sustainability and collaborative initiative to support tradidtional grazing patterns since the group ranch concept has not been very successfulen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/960
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectWetland conservation --Kenya --Kajiando district
dc.subjectConservation of natural resources --Kenya --Kajiando district
dc.subjectWetland management --Kenya --Kajiando district
dc.titlechallenges and opportunities in collective action for manging communal natural resources: study of Shompole Wetland, Kajiado district, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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