Determinants and effectiveness of adopted drought mitigation strategies among households in tharaka south sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

Drought has always disrupted most of agricultural activities over the globe. Rainfall amounts and intensities are becoming very unpredictable, and so increasing the levels of drought occurrence and persistence. More than four fifths of Kenya’s land is ASAL including the greater part of Tharaka Nithi County. Therefore, the study examined the mitigation measures that are being applied by households in Tharaka South Sub-County to counter drought predicament. To achieve this purpose, the study examined the intensity of adoption of Drought Mitigation Strategies (DMS) the determinants of adoption of DMS and the perceived effectiveness of DMS among farming households in Tharaka South Sub-County. Tharaka South is located between latitude 00o 02’S and 00o 17’S and between longitude 37o 29’E and 38o 00’E. The study used descriptive research design. A sample of 397 respondents was chosen from a target population of 18623 households and three key informants making a total of 400.Cluster random sampling was used to select households while purposeful sampling was used to select key informants. The study used questionnaires, interviews and direct observation to collect data. The descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used to analyse data. The quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 2020. The data was presented using graphs and tables. The study found out that planting drought tolerant crops, crop diversification and rain water harvesting had high adoption intensity with an average of (89.7%), (84.2%) and (78.1%) respectively. Soil water conservation had the lowest adoption intensity being adopted by only 6.1% of the sampled households. From the Pearson correlation test, there was significant positive correlation between DMS adoption and income (0.988, p<0.001), level of education (0.986, p<0.003), land area (0.983, p<0.006) and a negative correlation between DMS adoption and age (-0.593, p>0.003). A statistically significant positive correlation (0.106) existed between the perceived effectiveness and the overall adoption of DMS. This study recommends aligning drought mitigation efforts with people's own perspectives and carrying out assessments upfront to provide the necessary baseline information to support appropriate and strategies that are more likely to be effective and widely adopted.