Stakeholders’ Use and Awareness of the Benefits of Wetland Management Practices in Ewaso Narok Swamp in Kenya

A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is occupied by water either permanently or seasonally and in which plants or animals have been adapted. Wetlands are important for their richness in biodiversity and livelihood support functions. Wise use of wetlands is advocated in the Ramsar Convention which encompasses the implementation of conservation approaches to maintain the ecological character of such lands. According to this, the factors that are responsible for degradation, like the indiscriminate use of fertilizers should be controlled. Wetland management practices (WMPs) are essential and safe substitutes for fertilizers because they promote resource conservation and increase farm yields. Awareness of the benefits of the WMPs is expected to enhance their utilization and reduce the use of fertilizers and chemicals which affect wetland and human health. In order to ascertain the felt needs in Ewaso Narok Swamp, participatory baseline surveys were carried out among two major stakeholder groups; Water Resource Users Association (WRUA) and Water Resource Authority (WRA). It showed low uptake of WMPs and high use of fertilizer and other chemicals. Subsequently, a study was carried out to determine if benefit awareness influenced the use of WMPs. Results showed that an increase of benefit awareness is likely to increase the use of soil and water conservation practices by 27 percent and decrease the likelihood of not using any wetland management practice by 44 percent. Group membership has to be encouraged while fertilizer use should be discouraged in order to promote sustainable wetland management.