Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources and Pastoralists Livelihoods in Kajiado West Sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

The pastoralists, their herds, and the ecosystem are found to be very susceptible to climate change events such as droughts and floods. Due to the deaths of livestock due to lack of water and pasture, the pastoralist's lives are mostly affected. This situation has put the pastoralists into serious problems that have led them to depend on the Kenyan government and humanitarian organizations' food relief. Therefore, this study intends to assess climate change's impact on the available water resources and pastoralists' livelihoods in Kajiado West Sub-County by reviewing three variables: rainfall and temperature trends, water resources, and pastoralist livelihoods. The target population includes ninety-five (95) staff members of the Kajiado County Government, Kenya Metrological Department (KMD), and National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), who are stratified into the top, middle, and low-level management. The population also includes the local community members in Kajiado West. The primary data from the field were collected using questionnaires designed to capture data from the intended sample of 30 respondents, which forms part of the 95- target population. The Secondary data was also used, and it was collected from the internet, publications, research journals, and other climate change documentation focusing on climate change's impact on the available water resources and pastoral livelihoods. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze data for all objectives and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for objectives two and three. Data analysis tool weighted means, standard deviation, relative frequencies, and percentages. The study established that the availability of water resources in Kajiado West Sub-County has decreased over time due to frequent droughts. It has been established that there has been drought and a lack of pasture and water, which increased livestock mortality. The study concluded that climate change affected rainfall and temperature trends. The study also found that diminishing wetlands have worsened due to rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns. The study used the T-test and F-test to determine the statistical relationship between the variables. The study established that climate change significantly and positively affected water resources on both T-test and F-tests. Moreover, the study found that climate change had a positive and insignificant relationship with pastoralist livelihoods on both tests. The study recommends that the Kajiado County government offer support to the pastoralists through advice and veterinary services to their livestock so that the pastoralists can be resilient to climate change. This would also help to increase the knowledge of Pastoralists on climate change, thus ultimately improving their livelihoods. The county needs to have policies in place to alleviate the impact of droughts or floods. These plans would make the pastoralist communities become climate change resilient and hence be able to adapt and mitigate it. In addition, more livelihood options need to be put in place to increase the level of the ability of the communities to prevent losses when droughts and floods occur. The options would include but are not limited to, restocking herds after the droughts, selling them when fattened, and diversifying livelihoods with other incomegenerating activities.