Rural Community Coping Strategies with Drought- Driven Food Insecurity in Kwale County, Kenya
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Date
2015
Authors
Makoti, A.
Waswa, F.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Science and Education Publishing
Abstract
This paper discusses how households in Kwale in Kenya cope with drought-driven food insecurity and
also provides suggestions to inform sustainable mitigation planning. This area was purposively selected because it
suffers the most severe food insecurity levels in Kwale County. The main respondents were 120 households selected
using stratified random sampling and 20 key informants selected purposively. Primary data was collected using
questionnaires, focus group discussions and environmental observation checklists. Since the goal was to determine
general trends, data analysis focused on descriptive statistics. Findings indicated that major droughts tend to occur
every 10-15 years while minor ones after every 3-4 years. Failure of staple food crops and livestock losses elicits
severe negative impacts on the community’s well-being. Further, technical mitigation measures perceived as
effective were not necessarily the most popular with the community. For instance growing drought resistant crops
was ranked first by 90% of the respondents, perception on its effectiveness placed it 4th rank in favour of water
reservoirs, whose priority ranking was 7th by 25% of respondents. Similarly, diversification of income was
prioritized by 71% of respondents, yet placed as second in effectiveness in favour of engaging in waged labour,
whose priority ranking was 3rd by 58% of respondents. By implication, decision-making for lasting mitigation
measures requires the input of farmers. In conclusion, short to medium term drought coping mechanisms should
focus on diversifying food and income opportunities for households. As such farmers need to be empowered to
access financial credit for investment. At the county level, investing in water resources development for irrigation
agriculture and improvements in livestock management remain key long-term mitigation measures. The requisite
community capacity building calls for coordinated public-private-civil society partnerships.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Household food security, Drought, Mitigation
Citation
Journal of Food Security, 2015, Vol. 3, No.3, 87-93