Factors Influencing Rainwater Harvesting Technology in North Nyakach Location, Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, where a large part of the population live in rural areas and rain fed agriculture is the main livelihood, droughts and floods have far reaching impact? on communities. One form of mitigating the negative effects of drought is the implementation of simple, small-scale, low cost schemes called rainwater harvesting. This involves the capture, storing and redirection of.rainfall. However this technology has very low adoption rates. In the few cases where it is practiced rainwater is harvested in small quantities to be used for domestic purposes, in addition the quantity collected is not sufficient to last beyond the rainy season. While irrigation may be the most obvious response to drought, it has proved costly and can only benefit a fortunate few. Rainwater harvesting therefore provides a low cost alternative, which if adopted by local communities would significantly improve yields in agricultural activities. The focus of this study therefore is to assess the factors that influence adoption of rainwater systems as a viable source of water for agricultural use among residents of North Nyakach Location, Nyando District in Kenya. The specific objectives are to establish the nature of rainwater harvesting technologies in North Nyakach location, to analyze the socio-cultural factors influencing rainwater harvesting for agricultural use and to analyze the challenges facing rain water harvesting technologies in North Nyakach location. The methodology of the study involved survey research design in which data was collected using questionnaires and interviews, supplemented by secondary data sources. The study covered 108 randomly selected households in in North Nyakach Location and the unit of analysis was a household. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics which included frequency tables. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to compute the statistics. The study established that rain water harvesting technology had not been adopted by majority of residents in North Nyakach location, gutters directed to upper tanks form the most popular system by users of the technology, iron sheets were the most common roofing material, fathers were the main decision makers with regard to installing rain water harvesting systems arid they own the land on which the systems are installed, fmally residents quote lack of funds to install and maintain systems as the most common challenge. It was hoped that the results of this study therefore would be useful for farmers, development practitioners, policy makers, and other stakeholders interested in adopting a different approach to agriculture with potential to produce better yields.