Environmental and socio-economic impacts of sand harvesting on the community in river kivou catchment, Mwingi sub county, Kitui County, Kenya

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dc.contributor.authorWambua, Mumbi Patricia
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-12T08:24:55Z
dc.date.available2016-01-12T08:24:55Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.descriptionA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science (environmental education) in the school of environmental studies, Kenyatta University, June, 2015en_US
dc.description.abstractSand harvesting is a worldwide activity in both developed and developing countries. The leading nations in sand harvesting are United States of America, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, India, Spain, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. In Kenya sand harvesting is practiced in counties proximate to major urban' centers such as Machakos, Makueni, Kajiando and Kitui. Sand harvesting is a commercial activity that has continued to be practiced amidst the rapidly growing populations in urban areas and upcoming construction industry. This has largely contributed to an unprecedented demand for sand to meet the ever-rising needs of the building and construction industry. The aim of the study was to identify the environmental impacts of sand harvesting, determine the socio-economic impacts of sand harvesting on local communities and evaluate level of local stakeholders' participation in the sand harvesting process. Seven sites within River Kivou were selected namely: Mwania, Kwa Nduuthi, Kivou, Ndalani, Mangoloma, Kesu and Kanginga. The sites were purposively selected because sand harvesting was taking place at the time of the study. Three categories of respondents were captured: households within a distance of 5krn along the river catchment, sand transporters/loaders and experts in natural resources conservation. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using structured questionnaires. Field notes, observation and photography approaches were used to collect additional qualitative data. Data from the field was coded into similar responses and was then keyed into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS versionI6). Ms-excel was used to organize the data and to generate descriptive data inform of percentages and frequency and presenting them in form of charts and tables. Pearson Correlation Analysis was done to isolate existence of any correlations among the study parameters such as sand harvesting and environmental degradation and sand harvesting and social. -economic impacts. Interview transcripts, field notes and photographs were used to validate the qualitative data. The most critical environmental impact of sand harvesting was on land use with (59%) while the least was loss of properties (2%). A correlation analysis showed a very strong positive relationship (pearson; n = 159, r = 0.941, p < 0.05) between sand harvesting and community conflicts but a very weak positive relationship (pearson; n = 159, r = 0.104, p = 0.05) between sand harvesting and family unit breakdown. In conclusion sand harvesting has led to adverse negative environmental degradation in river Kivou catchment, such as :river bank degradation, as a result of unregulated sand harvesting, escalation of community conflicts ,habitat degradation and water use conflicts between the loaders and the locals.Sand harvesting exercise has resulted to a number of positive socio-economic impacts within the study sites e.g. rural income generation and enhancing infrastructural developments such as road and housing. The study recommended that; the governing structures and policies should be clear on issues of sand harvesting with defined roles of each stakeholder involved in the exercise and guidelines from NEMA on sand harvesting should be adhered to. Further sand dams should be constructed to help in sand storage & water recharging in the catchment, awareness creation on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of sand harvesting should be emphasized, clearly structured benefit-sharing mechanism should be put in place, Intensify stakeholder participation in sand harvesting at all levels so as to improve environmental management as well improve local households' livelihoods and further reduce potential conflicts. This study will be useful in helping devise a sustainable way of sand harvesting which ensures economic gains and environmental conservation on the other hand, strengthening the existing legislation and may be used as a reference by other researchersen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/14023
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.titleEnvironmental and socio-economic impacts of sand harvesting on the community in river kivou catchment, Mwingi sub county, Kitui County, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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