Examining the Poverty-Land Degradation Nexus in Kitui County, Kenya through a Political Ecology Lens

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorCalvine Kayien_US
dc.contributor.advisorMary Kinyanjuien_US
dc.contributor.authorMutiso, Mary N.
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-05T12:31:56Z
dc.date.available2022-08-05T12:31:56Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionA Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award tf the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Kenyatta University, February, 2022en_US
dc.description.abstractThe twin problems of poverty and landdegradation have persistently plagued Kenya in general and Kitui county in particular. Colonial and post-independence governments devised state policies and interventions to address these problems without much success. The overall aim of this study was to examine the nexus between poverty and land degradation. The specific objectives of the study were first, to examine the role played by colonial economic policies in the development of poverty and land degradationin Kitui, second, to analyze the relationship between the assets owned by households and their poverty levels, third, to assess the effect of the land management practices adopted by households in Kitui on the Land management outcomes and fourth, to evaluate the relationship between the assets owned by households in Kitui and their choice of land management practices. The study employed political ecology and the the investment poverty frameworks respectivelyto analyse,first, the the role of colonial policies in the development of poverty and land degradation and, second, the link between poverty, land management practices, and land management outcomes. The study used a mixed-methods analytical study design. Cross sectional data was collected using aquestionnaire while historical data was collected from archival and secondary sources. Three hundred and eighty-three households were sampled using the population proportional to size sampling method. This study used assets that a household had as measures of poverty and farmers’ perceptions of environmental problems as measures of land management outcomesIt analysed the data as follows; First, a historical analysis of the dynamics of poverty and land degradation in Kitui was undertaken to examine the influence of colonial economic policies on the development of poverty and land degradation. Second, the assets influencing household consumption (poverty) were identified through a regression between household consumption and household assets. Third, the study identified the land management practices practices influencing land management outcomes using Chi-square statistics. Finally, a regression of the determinants of poverty with the determinants of land management practices practices yielded the determinants of land management practices practices. This study identified four determinants of poverty levels namely: education, the number of active household members, land size and access to extension services. It associated crop failure, soil erosion, and vegetation cover depletion with land management practices. Finally, three assets, namely education, the number of household members between twenty and sixty (out of how many) and advice from extension officers influenced land management practices households in Kitui adopted. Since the factors that influenced poverty also influencedland management outcomes, the study concluded that poverty and land degradation are outcomes of the same causes and processes and therefore not necessarily mutually reinforcing phenomena. It therefore refuted the Vicious Circle hypothesis. Policy interventions to eradicate poverty and land degradation should therefore be on education, labour and extension services.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/23900
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectExaminingen_US
dc.subjectPoverty-Land Degradation Nexusen_US
dc.subjectKitui Countyen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.subjectPolitical Ecology Lensen_US
dc.titleExamining the Poverty-Land Degradation Nexus in Kitui County, Kenya through a Political Ecology Lensen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Examining the Poverty.pdf
Size:
3.36 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Full text Thesis
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
PHD-Department of Geography