Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Household Wetland Resources Conservation And Use In Ngaciuma Sub-Catchment, Upper Tana, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Wetland ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services that are important in

supporting the livelihood of many rural communities. Despite their importance, overexploitation

and in the absence of conservation measures, wetlands continue to be

degraded by hurrian activities. Population growth pressure and .subsequent food

insecurity have lead to the communities living near the wetland areas to reclaim the

wetlands, thereby threatening the existence of the ecosystem. Factors responsible for

wetland degradation in sub-catchments are many and varied. They include lack of

understanding of the factors influencing people's access and decisions on use of

wetland resources. There is minimal or no research conducted to understand the

factors influencing rural household decisions on use of wetland resources in the subcacthment.

In order to understand and improve management of wetland this study

sought to identify and.analyse types of wetlands, assess the various households socioeconomic

factors inffuencing wetlands resources use and conservation methods used

within the Ngaciuma sub-catchment. To achieve this, a combination of key informant

interviews, transect walk, observations and household survey were used to collect

data. A structured questionnaire was administered to 96 households to solicit data on

the households' socio-economic characteristics and wetland use patterns. SWOT

analysis was used to analyze the conservations methods and sources of threats to

wetland resources. ./ stratified random sampling technique was used to select

households for interview. The data generated was coded and entered into the

Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and analyzed using descriptive statistics

and cross tabulation to describe various patterns influencing households' use of

wetland resources. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship

between the household factors and use of wetland resources. Chi square was also

used to compare the relationship between the expected and the observed wetland use.

The results revealed that marshes are the most common type of wetlands which are

dominated by tyha species vegetation. The findings also revealed that education,

income levels, household size and.proximity to wetlands influence the use of wetland

resources at (p< 0.05) chi-square> test. The most common methods used in

conservation were planting of water friendly trees and soil conservation. Major

challenges of wetland conservationinclude insufficient information and destruction of

wetlands by wild animals. The study recommends formulation of comprehensive

management plans, which have legal backing, to be used to govern the use of

wetlands resources. There is also need for' co-management of wetlands between the state and the communities.