Determination of Impacts of Drought on Pastoral Production System in Marsabit, Kenya

Abstract

Pastoral communities in lands are faced with a number of challenges including recurrent droughts resulting in water shortages, loss of body condition of livestock, livestock deaths, human diseases and some severe cases human deaths. The drought frequency and severity of droughts have increased and is negatively impacting on households. However, the impacts of droughts on households are not well understood and documented. The objectives of this study is to determination impacts of drought on pastoral production system in Marsabit, Kenya. Simple cross-sectional random sampling was used for primary data collection through questionnaires. 384 households were randomly interviewed in a household population of about 19,000 households using the (Scott Smith, 2013) formula for deciding the sample size. Secondary data was obtained from relevant public reports, journals, agricultural reports, statistical abstracts and development partners. The study considered various biophysical and socio-economic factors to determine drought impacts on households. Drought impacts were determined through correlations of drought index and number of livestock owned, availability of pasture, number of water bodies, number of livestock species and livestock prices. Data analysis was done using frequencies, percentages, spearman correlation, cross tabulations and chi square tests. The results were presented using tables, bar graphs, pie charts and plates. The data was analysed through computer Excel and SPSS programmes. The presentation of results was done in form of narrative, graphs, tables, pie and bar charts. The results indicate positive and high correlations to the indicated parameters to drought impacts. This implies substantial support is required from within the community and external sources in order to mitigate the negative impacts of drought in the study area.