A Review of Some Indices used for Drought Studies

Droughts are serious extreme events that have adverse effects on the physical environment and water resource systems in both developed and developing countries. Consequently, there is need for adequate measures for responding to and mitigating various impacts arising from drought occurrence. The design and implementation of drought mitigation and response strategies requires an understanding of the various indices that are used to examine drought both at single site and in an area. In the case of water resources management during critical drought periods for instance, a means of objectively identifying drought events in terms time and duration of occurrence, magnitude and severity is required. This is possible only using various indices to characterize drought. In this paper, some of the key drought indices are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses identified. Keywords: drought, index, severity, mitigatio

Challenges and Interventions in Sanitation Management Approaches in Mavoko Municipality

Proper urban sanitation management approaches are essential components in the realization of protected and conserved environment for sustainable development. Established sustainability criteria of population densities; climatic and geological conditions of areas; designs; operation and maintenance of these approaches were used in the study to gauge the contribution to sustainable development by interventions made in addressing challenges faced by sanitation management approaches used. The study site covered the urbanizing areas of Athi River, Katani, Kinanie, Mulolongo and Syokimau.  A cross sectional study design was adopted to collect quantitative and qualitative data. 385 household Respondents were interviewed. Simple random and purposive sampling methods were used to administer questionnaires to standalone houses and comprehensive housing schemes.  Interviews with key informants from the County Government of Machakos, Mavoko Water and Sewerage Company (MAVWASCO) and Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) were conducted.  Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in tables, pie charts, line graphs and percentages.  A content analysis from qualitative data was used to develop thematic issues.  The study established that the soils and rock type in the study area pose major challenges to sanitation management approaches whereas interventions to address these challenges are not adequate to surmount them.  Poor sewerage network coverage, low levels of reuse of waste water, inadequate treatment of effluent in the oxidation ponds and the irreconcilable differences between the key service providers compromise the environment. Recommendations are made to the Government to prioritize investments in the water and sanitation sector and increase the area coverage under sewer network, promote separation of household and industrial waste water and educate the population to reuse waste water.   Mandates of the service providers should be clarified to play a complementary role to govern the water and sanitation sector effectively. Keywords: Challenges and interventions, Mavoko, Sanitation criteria, Sanitation management approaches

Reinventing Effluent Management in the Sugar Industry in the Nyando Basin, Kenya: From End-of-Pipe to Integrated Approaches

The industrial pollution discharge into the river basins of Lake Victoria in Kenya has been a major environmental management issue. Much of this discharge comes from the sugar mills and molasses distilleries in the Nyando River Basin. Voluntary approaches to pollution prevention have been on spotlight in the recent years as a viable option for enabling industries to meet, even surpass, statutory effluent discharge standards. Central to these approaches is use of cleaner production technologies and practices which have been experimented with in the Nyando River Basin since 2009. However, the potential of this voluntary ecological transformation tool to deliver economic and ecological advantages in a Kenyan perspective has not been examined. Using the case of the sugar industry in the Nyando Basin in Western Kenya, this article explores the benefits to firms of integrating cleaner production with end-of-pipe approaches in effluent management. The theoretical underpinning of the analysis is the Ecological Modernisation paradigm, owing to its emphasis on voluntarism and integrated approaches to pollution management that portend double-dividends of reduced expenses and pollution loads. The results indicate that companies integrating cleaner production with end-of-pipe treatment are likely to reduce pollution loads, register high water productivity and enhance compliance with effluent discharge standards. In addition to these improved environmental performance, they are likely to record financial rewards. It is concluded that cleaner production is a potential tool to promote pollution prevention. However, its current implementation framework based on time-bound donor-funded projects falls short of inducing a transformational culture towards a preventative pollution regime. Keywords: Industrial effluent, pollution prevention, cleaner production, ecological modernisatio

Determinants of Adoption Choices of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Crop Production by Small Scale Farmers in Some Regions of Central Ethiopia

In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is set to hit the agricultural sector the most and cause untold suffering particularly for smallholder farmers. Adoption of climate change adaptation strategies aims to minimize adverse effects of climate change on crop yields. However, the capacity of smallholder farmers to choose from appropriate climate change adaptation strategies in SSA is limited. It is therefore imperative to identify and analyze factors that determine the capacity of these farmers to choose appropriate climate change adaptation strategies. Such effort will help policy makers and development practitioners design policies that would help to tackle the problem of food insecurity and poverty afflicting majority of the local people in various regions in the continent. In this study, household data on crop farming systems in central Ethiopia was used and binary and multinomial logit models developed to analyze the data. The binary logit model was used to identify determinants of farmers’ decision to adapt to climate change at all. The multinomial logit model was employed to analyse factors that affect farmers’ adoption choices. Results indicate that farmers´ decisions to choose from several climate change adaptation strategies are influenced by various factors such as access to information on climate change, input and output market, credit facility, extension services and social capital. The implication is that policy makers and development practitioners should focus on improving information flow, access to input and output market, the education level of the household head, and informal social networks that can speed up the adoption of adaptation strategies. The multinomial logit model also shows that farmers´ decision to choose among climate change adaptation strategies is influenced by the type of risk factor they faced and the occurrence of drought or flood.  Accordingly, policy makers and development practitioners should play a significant role by promoting adaptation methods appropriate for particular climate change risk factor such as drought or flood. Key words:  climate change, adaptation strategies, crop production, small scale farmer

Business Sustainability: A Need To Re-Look Environmental Practices And Initiatives

Due to the increasing degradation of the natural business enterprises’ environmental commitment has become an important variable in most of today’s competitive business environment. This is because activities of most enterprises are the main causes of environmental degradation which in turn impact on the sustainability of their performance. This study looks at the specific business environmental practices and initiatives and how they impact on their sustainability. The overall objective of the study was to establish the impact of environmental initiatives on business sustainability around Lake Naivasha. The study design was descriptive survey in order to pick behaviors which needed to be mitigated for purposes of business sustainability. Purposive random sampling was used from the target population which comprised of farming, hospitality and fishing sectors. Discriminant analysis was used to analyze the data and the key findings of the study show that business sustainability depends mainly on the current environmental practices and initiatives that have been put in place. The study recommends that business associations be at the frontline in regulating activities by their members in order to achieve sustainability. Keywords: Business Sustainability, Lake Naivasha, Environmental Initiatives, Enterprise Performanc

Climate Finance: Fears and Hopes for Developing Countries

This article looks at the current climate finance architecture and its impact on developing countries climate change responses. The primary aim is to capture the contradictions that exist in the climate finance architecture particularly between those recommended by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and those advanced by developed countries otherwise known as non-UNFCCC climate financing mechanisms. The overall observation is that once non-UNFCCC climate financing mechanisms emerged and the more they were justified using the UNFCCC, the global response to the climate change problem was fatally wounded through a procedural derailment of UNFCCC objectives. This article calls for a review of non-UNFCCC with the aim of divesting them of the profit factor which in this case is the problematic. Keywords: Climate, Finance, Mechanisms, Governance, Privatization, Stalemate

Analysis of Hydrological Drought Events in the Upper Tana Basin of Kenya

Drought is a major environmental hazard which has serious implications for water management and environmental protection. This is especially so when unsustainable water management, as well as predicted climate change effects in droughts, could result in severe impacts on nature and society. Inefficient management of drought and water resources could put aquatic ecosystems under serious severe stress. The lack of adequate water availability in rivers during drought episodes leads to heavy overexploitation of the rivers and reservoirs, which significantly affects the survival of associated biological diversity. It is therefore essential to know the occurrence of drought events in river basins with a view to establishing and developing measures to minimize the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of its effects in these areas. In this paper, drought duration and severity were examined in four homogenous regions of the upper Tana basin. The homogenous regions were established using principal component analysis results of discharge data from twenty two river gauge stations in basin. The runs analysis technique was then applied to examine the drought duration and severity at the homogenous regions of the basin. Results indicated that the mean drought duration varied from 4 to 11 months across the regions whilst the standardized mean severity ranged from 0.63 to 3.89. Two of the regions experienced nearly the same standardized mean severity. Drought events occurred at times when the basin experienced rainfall deficits an indication that low rainfall affects discharge in the rivers of the basin. The variations in the number and frequency of the drought events in the homogenous regions would possibly be related to the semi-arid and arid nature of the climate in most of the southern and eastern parts of the basin. To minimize the impacts of drought in the basin, it is recommended that capacity building of the local communities in the basin be done focusing on water conservation and alternative livelihoods systems to minimize overdependence on water resources in the basin. Keywords: Drought, hydrological drought, runs analysis, water managemen

Analysis of Environmental Initiatives on Business Performance Sustainability at the Lake Naivasha Ecosystem, Kenya

Increasing degradation of the natural environment is one of the main threats to human survival in the long term. Business enterprises’ environmental commitment has, therefore, become an important variable in most of today’s competitive business environment. Activities of most enterprises are the main causes of environmental degradation which in turn impact on their performance. This study therefore looks at the specific business environmental initiatives and how they impact on their performance. The overall objective of the study was to establish the impact of environmental initiatives on business performance sustainability around Lake Naivasha. In order to achieve this objective, the research was guided by various specific objectives which included examining forms of environmental degradation, examining environmental initiatives put in place to mitigate on degradation, and examining effects of environmental initiatives of various business operations on social capital. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the purposes of the study. Primary data was collected through various instruments including questionnaires administered to individual respondents, focus group discussions, in depth interviews and observation schedules. Secondary data was obtained from previous study reports, articles, professional journals, various businesses’ monitoring records, annual sales reports and any other relevant literature that the researcher came across in the course of the study. The collected data was interpreted and analysed using discriminant analysis. The Scientific Package for Social Studies (SPSS) was used for the analysis. The study design was descriptive survey in order to pick behaviours which needed to be mitigated for purposes of enterprise performance sustainability. Purposive random sampling was used from the target population which comprised of farming, hospitality and fishing sectors. For purposes of establishing the views of the stakeholders, the officials of various organisations that have interests on the Lake Naivasha ecosystem were incorporated into a focus group and their views were sought through group discussions. The key findings of the study were that; the main forms of environmental degradation are nutrients discharge to the lake, water abstraction, cutting of trees, overgrazing and green house gases effects. The implication of the findings is that unless businesses concerned address environmental issues their performance sustainability may not be assured going forward. The study recommends that an evaluative criteria defining the impacts that are acceptable to the society be determined, policy bundles that are currently in place be reviewed to achieve diverse societal objectives, strategic decisions made by organisations operating in the area be assessed in light of the actors involved and investment in better information monitoring and enforcement of rules and regulations be undertaken. Lastly, since specific organisational sustainability outcomes seem to consistently fail to meet broad societal expectation, the articulation of stakeholder interests need to be considered by involving all actors in the environmental governance process. Keywords: Environmental initiative on Business Performance Sustainability, Lake Naivasha, Keny

Sources, Accessibility and Reliability of Water for Various Uses in Ruiru District of Kiambu County, Kenya

Numerous challenges regarding the availability of water availability for various socioeconomic development activities exist in many areas across the globe. This is particularly so in most peri-urban areas where scarcity is one of the critical problems affecting sustainable development of these areas. In this study, sources, accessibility and reliability of water in Ruiru District of Kiambu County in Kenya were examined. A multistage sampling design using both stratified and random sampling techniques was used to select the required sample. A household survey approach with the aid of questionnaires and observation record sheets were used to collect data from representative sample of 198 households in three different clusters. The data collected was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and ranking. The study established the main water sources to be tap water, borehole, wells, rivers and Community Based Organizatio

Regionalization of the Upper Tana Basin of Kenya Using Stream Flow Records

In this study, the upper Tana basin of Kenya was delineated into homogenous hydrological zones based on monthly stream flow records from several river gauge stations in the basin using the empirical orthogonal function analysis technique. Results indicate the study basin to be grouped into four homogenous hydrological zones that seemed to reflect the drainage, geological and climatic patterns of the catchments of the basin. The identified zones would be useful and crucial to understanding the physical and dynamic processes governing hydrology and water use such as hydroelectric power, storage and irrigation potential and other land use characteristics in the different catchments of the basin