IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v8y2019i3p130-d251270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Francis Oremo

    (Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi 00100, Kenya)

  • Richard Mulwa

    (Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi 00100, Kenya)

  • Nicholas Oguge

    (Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi 00100, Kenya)

Abstract

The rising demand for food production in a changing climate impacts water resources negatively in semi-arid agro-ecosystems. In the Tsavo sub-catchment of Kenya, this is compounded by a surging population and expansion of cropping as a land use; leading to increased abstraction of surface water resources and deterioration of related ecosystem services. The impact of increased abstraction is more profound during water stress seasons when stream-flow levels are low. While water policies have incorporated a requirement for environmental flows, unregulated abstractions persist suggesting an inherent challenge. Drawing on a sample of 279 households, we analysed farmers’ engagement in water resources management and explored how this can inform water resource planning. Seasonal water scarcity and user conflicts were the major challenges experienced by the farmers. Ordinal and logistic regression models show that knowledge, attitude and practices were culture-dependent being impacted by educational attainment, level of income, access to extension and membership to local networks. Attitude and practice were further influenced by land tenure and farm distance to water sources. Since knowledge of water management issues informed attitudes and practices, improved awareness and targeted extension support are necessary in the development and implementation of policy decisions on water resources management.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Oremo & Richard Mulwa & Nicholas Oguge, 2019. "Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:8:y:2019:i:3:p:130-:d:251270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/3/130/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/3/130/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, John, 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 138046.
    2. Tran, Hanh & Nguyen, Quoc & Kervyn, Matthieu, 2018. "Factors influencing people’s knowledge, attitude, and practice in land use dynamics: A case study in Ca Mau province in the Mekong delta, Vietnam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 227-238.
    3. Molden, David & Oweis, Theib & Steduto, Pasquale & Bindraban, Prem & Hanjra, Munir A. & Kijne, Jacob, 2010. "Improving agricultural water productivity: Between optimism and caution," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 528-535, April.
    4. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, J. & Mapedza, Everisto, 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries: rationale, contents and key messages," IWMI Books, Reports H040684, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Nkomoki, William & Bavorová, Miroslava & Banout, Jan, 2018. "Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and food security threats: Effects of land tenure in Zambia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 532-538.
    6. Nkonya, Ephraim & Pender, John & Kaizzi, Kayuki C. & Kato, Edward & Mugarura, Samuel & Ssali, Henry & Muwonge, James, 2008. "Linkages between land management, land degradation, and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Uganda," Research reports 159, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Job Ochieng Ogada & George Okoye Krhoda & Anne Van Der Veen & Martin Marani & Pieter Richards van Oel, 2017. "Managing resources through stakeholder networks: collaborative water governance for Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 271-290, April.
    8. Dean, Angela J. & Lindsay, Jo & Fielding, Kelly S. & Smith, Liam D.G., 2016. "Fostering water sensitive citizenship – Community profiles of engagement in water-related issues," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(P1), pages 238-247.
    9. Boureima Yacouba Karidjo & Zhanqi Wang & Yamba Boubacar & Chao Wei, 2018. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Soil and Water Control Technology (SWCT) in Keita Valley, a Semi-Arid Area of Niger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, January.
    10. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Janssen, Marco A. & Kandikuppa, Sandeep & Chaturvedi, Rahul & Rao, Kaushalendra & Theis, Sophie, 2018. "Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in Andhra Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 40-53.
    11. Johan Rockström & Malin Falkenmark, 2015. "Agriculture: Increase water harvesting in Africa," Nature, Nature, vol. 519(7543), pages 283-285, March.
    12. Marenya, Paswel P. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2007. "Household-level determinants of adoption of improved natural resources management practices among smallholder farmers in western Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 515-536, August.
    13. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, J., 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries," IWMI Books, Reports H040683, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Fenske, James, 2011. "Land tenure and investment incentives: Evidence from West Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 137-156, July.
    15. C. J. Vörösmarty & P. B. McIntyre & M. O. Gessner & D. Dudgeon & A. Prusevich & P. Green & S. Glidden & S. E. Bunn & C. A. Sullivan & C. Reidy Liermann & P. M. Davies, 2010. "Erratum: Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7321), pages 334-334, November.
    16. van Koppen, Barbara & Giordano, Mark & Butterworth, John & Mapedza, Everisto, 2007. "Community-based water law and water resource management reform in developing countries: rationale, contents and key messages," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    17. Mutabazi, K. D. & Sekondo, E. E. & Mbilinyi, B. P. & Tumbo, D. S. & Mahoo, H. F. & Hatibu, N., 2005. "Economics of rainwater harvesting for crop enterprises in semi-arid areas: the case of Makanya Watershed in Pangani River Basin, Tanzania," Conference Papers h037519, International Water Management Institute.
    18. World Bank, 2018. "Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018 [Rapport 2018 sur la pauvreté et la prospérité partagée]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 30418, December.
    19. Mutabazi, K. D. & Sekondo, E. E. & Mbilinyi, B. P. & Tumbo, D. S. & Mahoo, H. F. & Hatibu, N., 2005. "Economics of rainwater harvesting for crop enterprises in semi-arid areas: the case of Makanya Watershed in Pangani River Basin, Tanzania," Conference Papers h041167, International Water Management Institute.
    20. C. J. Vörösmarty & P. B. McIntyre & M. O. Gessner & D. Dudgeon & A. Prusevich & P. Green & S. Glidden & S. E. Bunn & C. A. Sullivan & C. Reidy Liermann & P. M. Davies, 2010. "Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7315), pages 555-561, September.
    21. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Molden, David & Wichelns, Dennis, 2010. "Investing in water for food, ecosystems, and livelihoods: An overview of the comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 495-501, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francis Oremo & Richard Mulwa & Nicholas Oguge, 2021. "Sustainable water access and willingness of smallholder irrigators to pay for on-farm water storage systems in Tsavo sub-catchment, Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1371-1391, February.
    2. Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Rodriguez, Luz Angela & Johnson, Nancy, 2011. "Collective action for watershed management: field experiments in Colombia and Kenya," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 275-303, June.
    3. Crow, Ben & Swallow, Brent & Asamba, Isabella, 2012. "Community Organized Household Water Increases Not Only Rural incomes, but Also Men’s Work," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 528-541.
    4. Valentino Cattelan, 2013. "Introduction. Babel, Islamic finance and Europe: preliminary notes on property rights pluralism," Chapters, in: Valentino Cattelan (ed.), Islamic Finance in Europe, chapter 1, pages 1-12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Hartwig, Lana D. & Jackson, Sue & Osborne, Natalie, 2020. "Trends in Aboriginal water ownership in New South Wales, Australia: The continuities between colonial and neoliberal forms of dispossession," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    6. Harrison, Elizabeth, 2018. "Engineering change? The idea of ‘the scheme’ in African irrigation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 246-255.
    7. Valentino Cattelan, 2017. "Legal Pluralism, Property Rights and the Paradigm of Islamic Economics التعددية القانونية وحقوق الملكية والنموذج الإرشادي للاقتصاد الإسلامي," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 30(1), pages 21-36, January.
    8. Johanna Kramm & Lars Wirkus, 2010. "Local Water Governance: Negotiating Water Access and Resolving Resource Conflicts in Tanzanian Irrigation Schemes," Research Working Papers 33, MICROCON - A Micro Level Analysis of Violent Conflict.
    9. repec:abd:kauiea:v:30:y:2017:i:1:p:21-36 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. van Koppen, Barbara & Schreiner, B., . "A hybrid approach to statutory water law to support smallholder farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) in Sub-Saharan Africa," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 12(1):146-1.
    11. Mwangi Joseph Kanyua, 2020. "Effect of Imposed Self-Governance on Irrigation Rules Design among Horticultural Producers in Peri-Urban Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    12. van Koppen, Barbara & Smits, Stef & Moriarty, Patrick & Penning de Vries, Frits W.T. & Mikhail, Monique & Boelee, Eline, 2009. "Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 137955.
    13. Thomas Marambanyika & Heinz Beckedahl, 2017. "Institutional arrangements governing wetland utilization and conservation in communal areas of Zimbabwe," Review of Social Sciences, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Danny Cho & Tomson Ogwang & Christopher Opio, 2010. "Simplifying the Water Poverty Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 257-267, June.
    15. Kumar, Shalander & Ramilan, Thiagarajah & Ramarao, C.A. & Rao, Ch. Srinivasa & Whitbread, Anthony, 2016. "Farm level rainwater harvesting across different agro climatic regions of India: Assessing performance and its determinants," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 55-66.
    16. Shuhong Wang & Ning Yin & Zhihai Yang, 2021. "Factors affecting sustained adoption of irrigation water-saving technologies in groundwater over-exploited areas in the North China Plain," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10528-10546, July.
    17. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.
    18. Mequanent, Getachew, 2016. "The Application of Traditional Dispute Resolution in Land Administration in Lay Armachiho Woreda (District), Northern Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 171-179.
    19. Kimengsi, Jude Ndzifon & Owusu, Raphael & Djenontin, Ida N.S. & Pretzsch, Jürgen & Giessen, Lukas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Pouliot, Mariève & Acosta, Ana Nicole, 2022. "What do we (not) know on forest management institutions in sub-Saharan Africa? A regional comparative review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    20. Aarnoudse, E. & Closas, Alvar & Lefore, Nicole, 2018. "Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa," IWMI Working Papers H048782, International Water Management Institute.
    21. Nanayakkara, V. K., 2010. "Sri Lanka’s water policy: themes and issues," Conference Papers h042809, International Water Management Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:8:y:2019:i:3:p:130-:d:251270. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.