By Anthony M. Wanjohi
This paper addresses the theme of effects of
drought in Kenya. The first part briefly presents the definition of the term
drought. This is followed by a brief description of
different types of drought and causes. The main part of the paper constitute the impact of drought.
This section is presented under three
sub-headings, namely economic impact, environmental and social impacts. The
last part of the paper highlights on various coping strategies that can be put
in place to mitigate the effects of drought.
The main purpose of this paper is to explore the
effects of drought in Kenya. These effects include economic, environmental and
social effects. The paper also briefly gives some coping strategies that can be
put in place to mitigate the impacts of drought.
Kenya is a drought-prone country, primarily
because of its peculiar eco-climatic conditions. Although dissected by the
equator in its southern half, Kenya contains only a few pockets of high and
regular rainfall (>2000mm). Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) cover 80% of
the territory. In these areas, where annual rainfall varies from 200 to 500 mm,
periodical droughts are part of the climate system (Kandji,
2006). Given this kind of climatic conditions in the kind, it is only proper to
explore the effects of drought in the country and to suggest what could be done
to cope with these perennial problem.
There is no common definition of drought because
it is unlike other types of hazards which makes it
difficult to define. Since impacts are specific to the affected region as well
as the affected communities, a universal definition is difficult to develop.
However, drought can be defined in a simple conceptual way that it is a
prolonged and abnormally dry and hot period when there is scarcity of water for
the normal needs of the affected community or ecosystem (EEN, 2004).
Droughts are now receiving more attention due to
the recent increase in their frequency and intensity. It is a slow onset
disaster that is believed to be the primary cause of famine due to crop
failure. The general definition can be modified to further develop definitions
of specific types of droughts such as meteorological droughts, agricultural
droughts, hydrological droughts and socio-economical droughts.
According to EEN (2004) there are various types
of drought. These are classified according to their effects. These include
Meteorological Drought, Agricultural Drought, Hydrological Drought and
Socio-Economic Drought.
Meteorological drought is defined on
the basis of the degree of inadequacy of precipitation, in comparison to a
normal or average amount, and the duration of the dry period. Definitions of
meteorological drought are region-specific, since the atmospheric
conditions that result in deficiencies of precipitation are highly
region-specific. The variety of meteorological definitions in different
countries illustrates why it is not possible to apply a definition
of drought developed in one part of the world to another without any
modifications.
Agricultural drought links various
characteristics of meteorological drought to agricultural impacts,
focusing on precipitation shortages. The definitions of
agricultural drought attempt to explain the susceptibility of crops
to water deficiencies during different stages of crop development. It does not
only affect the farming sector in agriculture but also the pastoral sector
where it forces pastoralists to migrate from their land with their animals in
order to look for pasture and water.
Hydrological drought refers to a
persistently low discharge and/or volume of water in streams and reservoirs,
lasting months or years. Hydrological droughts are usually related to
meteorological droughts, and their intervals of recurrence vary accordingly.
Definitions of
socio-economic drought associate the supply and demand of some
economic good with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and
agricultural drought. Socio-economic drought differs from the
other types of drought in that its occurrence depends on the
processes of supply and demand. Socio-economic drought occurs when
the demand for an economic good exceeds the supply as a result of a
weather-related shortfall in water supply. Operational definitions of drought help
to identify the drought’s beginning, end, and degree of severity. This is
usually accomplished by comparing the current situation with the historical
rainfall average. The thresholds which are identified for the beginning, the
end and the severity of a drought are often established arbitrarily
using historical statistics.
When precipitation over a given region performs
poorly and is accompanied by relatively high evaporation rates for prolonged
periods, a drought occurs. In most cases, drought is caused
by a deficiency of either precipitation or an inadequacy of inland water
resources supplies for a prolonged period. “Inadequacy” in this context is a
relative word, and is determined by the specific requirements in the sector or
activity. Since most inland water resources are usually sustained by
precipitation, inadequate precipitation is usually the major cause
of drought. This inadequacy is usually caused by an unfavorable
performance of the factors which drive the climate
system over the affected region. Examples of such factors include sunspot
activity, the El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation phenomenon and also the wind
patterns at the top of the atmosphere. An increase in the frequency of droughts
has also been linked to climate change. Adverse societal factors such as poor
land-use practices, conflicts, poverty, poor communication infrastructure and
lack of (or poorly implemented) traditional coping mechanisms are also major
catalysts of drought disasters.
The geography of Kenya, the country’s situation
along the East African Rift Valley and its climate combine with high population
growth rates to have increasing numbers of people living in disaster prone
areas. Recent trends in climate change and global warming as well as increasing environmental degradation
means that there are more people whose livelihoods are precarious living in
areas where the competition for scarce resources triggers conflict and
unsustainable use of the environment especially in the marginal lands. The
ASALs (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands) constitute about 80% of the country’s land
mass, host approximately 11 million people and 70% of the national livestock
herd. The ASALs are prone to drought and other natural disasters and
the populations there, mainly pastoralists, are highly vulnerable to these and
other recurrent shocks. Pastoralist vulnerability is intimately linked with
livestock-based livelihoods and the vulnerability of pastoralists is escalating
due to recurrent natural disasters in the ASALs coupled with increasing
population growth and declining carrying capacity of the land (UN, 2004).
7.0 Impacts of
Drought Kenya
Drought produces a complex web of impacts that
spans many sectors of the economy and reaches well beyond the area experiencing
physical drought. This complexity exists because water is integral to our
ability to produce goods and provide services. (NDMC, 2006) states that
rainfall patterns, especially rain failure or erratic rainfall are frequently
the cause of natural disasters in Kenya where rural livelihoods have evolved to
adapt to water availability. In this case we are going to look at the impacts
of drought in Kajiado district they are
categorized as economic, environmental, or social.
Environmental degradation is accelerated during
periods of drought due to:- diminished wetland areas; poor land use
activities such as cutting down of trees for fuel; wood and charcoal burning
for income; bush and range fires and overgrazing. Environmental degradation is
in many cases exacerbated by population pressure and migration of the affected
communities to marginal lands. The human factor in environmental degradation
does not allow the environment to recover even after the end of
the drought period. In some areas of the district droughts catalyze
desertification, leading to loss of natural resources.(EEN,
2004).
In addition to obvious losses in yields in both crop and livestock production, drought is
associated with increases in insect infestations, plant disease, and wind
erosion. Droughts also bring increased problems with insects and diseases to
forests and reduce growth. The incidence of forest and range fires increases
substantially during extended droughts, which in turn places both human and
wildlife populations at higher levels of risk. People in the area buy food at
high cost due to poor yield of livestock production and crop failure. The
government and NGOs provide relief food to the residents thus incurring extra
cost in the national budget.
The societal characteristics that maximize
vulnerability to drought include:- poverty and low income levels;
conflicts and wars; pandemics; high dependence on rain-fed systems; lack of
controls for strengthening security in water supplies and consequently in
crucial water uses such as irrigation and hydro-power generation; poor planning
and management of agricultural water supply and irrigation systems; high
population densities and other factors that inhibit population mobility and implementation
of traditional coping mechanisms; inexperience of communities to cope with
droughts; and unwillingness of communities to live with some droughtrisks as a trade-off against beneficial
services or goods (EEN, 2004). Societal and physical characteristics of
vulnerability reinforce each other differently and at different levels of
severity in different parts of the world. Thus, regions like are affected
by drought more severely than others.
8.0 Conclusion/ Coping strategies
According to International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR) (2005) coping with drought hazards can be enhanced by
developing strategies which adequately address the following questions:
a) How frequently or extensively does a certain
type of drought occur in a given region?
b) What are the vulnerabilities and expected losses
which are associated with the particular type of drought?
c) What are the costs of implementing the plausible
strategies or options for mitigating the disaster that can be caused by that
type of drought?
Such strategies aim at reducing the
vulnerability of drought-prone communities by either altering or strengthening
their land use and farming practices as well as implementing programmes that
promote water and food security, which also enhance poverty alleviation. The
slow onset of drought combined with drought-forecasting capabilities also
enables implementation of preparedness and preventive plans and measures in
advance of the occurrence of the drought disaster. The improvement in recent years
in seasonal and long-term climate predictions such as those issued by many
national and regional institutes and centers is assisting in the implementation
of drought disaster mitigation and implementation of effective
drought-contingency plans.
Other response mechanisms, mitigation procedures
and assessment procedures include:
a) Drought vulnerability and impact assessments;
b) Enhancing mechanisms for drought preparedness;
c) Capacity building and awareness creation in
drought
d) coping methods;
e) Enhancing coordination of drought response and
f) recovery mechanisms
International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) (2005). Drought Coping Strategies.Available at http://www.unisdr.org
Kandji, S.T. (2006). Drought in Kenya:
Climatic, Economic and Socio-PoliticalFactors.Available online at http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/NL06291.pdf.
Ministry of State For Special Rogrammes (2008). Drought In Kajiado District. DroughtMonthly Bulletin,
2008. Available online at http://www.aridland.go.ke/bullentins/2008/mar/kajiado.pdf.
United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). Drought Emergency and Response. Available
online at http://www.fao.org/National Drought Mitigation Center (2006)
United Nation (UN)
(2004). Causes
of Drought. Available online at http://www.un-kenya.org/Causal%20Analysis%20draft%20(4).doc
Suggested Citation in
APA
Wanjohi, A.M.
(2010). Effects of Drought in Kenya. KENPRO Publications Online Papers Portal. Available
online at http://www.kenpro.org/papers/effects-of-drought-in-Kenya.htm
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