Firm compliance to regulatory enforcement of industrial wastewater standards in Kenya

Regulatory enforcement and industrial non-compliance are very familiar issues in environmental protectlon and water resource management. Current thinking recognizes the insufficiency of the traditional regulatory enforcement structures that are based orthodox deterrence theory. There are, therefore increasing shlfts among some industrialized countrles towards "new regulatory reglmes" that focus on management styles, and forms of selfregulation, based on innovatlve and incentive devlce. However, the orthodox instruments remain the principie means for regulatory enforcement among many developing countries. Our goal in this paper ¡s to examine the effects of these (traditional) regulatory enforcement instruments on firm' compliance to wastewater standards in Kenya. We (i) examine the state of wastewater regulatory compliance and infractlons; (ii) construct and estímate a model of enforcement incidence based on monitorlng, inspections, warning letters, and court prosecutions; and (iii) discuss the linkages in the enforcement framework, and behaviour of firms). We use primary and secondary data from 53 industrial plants across 5 urban areas. The results of our model help us to identify flaws In the existing regulatory and enforcement "reglme"

Risk perception, choice of drinking water, and water treatment: evidence from Kenyan towns

ArticleThis study uses household survey data from four Kenyan towns to examine the effect of households’ characteristics and risk perceptions on their decision to treat/filter water as well as their choice of main drinking water source. Because the two decisions may be jointly made by the household, a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model is estimated. It turns out that treating non-piped water and using piped water as a main drinking water source are substitutes. The evidence supports the finding that perceived risks significantly correlate with a household’s decision to treat/filter unimproved non-pipe water before drinking it. The study also finds that higher connection fees reduce the likelihood of households connecting to the piped network. Because the current connection fee acts as a cost hurdle that deters households from getting a connection, the study recommends a system where households pay the connection fee in installments, through a prepaid water scheme or through a subsidy scheme.This study uses household survey data from four Kenyan towns to examine the effect of households’ characteristics and risk perceptions on their decision to treat/filter water as well as their choice of main drinking water source. Because the two decisions may be jointly made by the household, a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model is estimated. It turns out that treating non-piped water and using piped water as a main drinking water source are substitutes. The evidence supports the finding that perceived risks significantly correlate with a household’s decision to treat/filter unimproved non-pipe water before drinking it. The study also finds that higher connection fees reduce the likelihood of households connecting to the piped network. Because the current connection fee acts as a cost hurdle that deters households from getting a connection, the study recommends a system where households pay the connection fee in installments, through a prepaid water scheme or through a subsidy scheme

Transitory Income Shocks and Essential Household Consumption Expenditures in Rural Kenya

Majority of rural households in developing economies derive their livelihoods from agriculture, a sector that is highly prone to transitory shocks. In the absence of effective coping mechanisms, these households are unable to smoothen consumption and are thus likely to experience fluctuations in consumption expenditures. This study examines the effect of transitory income shocks on different categories of household expenditures, focusing on spending on essential goods and services such as food, health and education in rural Kenya. The study explores the heterogeneity in households and consumption to test the permanent income hypothesis using a sample of 5,828 rural households disaggregated along two distinct agro-ecological zones. Decomposing household income into permanent and transitory components failed to yield distinct estimates of permanent and transitory incomes when applied to this study’s data. We therefore modified the estimation approach to capture the effect of transitory income shocks by introducing a dummy of crop loss in the household expenditure equation. Our results show that in the countrywide sample, households that experienced crop loss had a statistically significant reduction in the aggregate, food and non-food expenditures compared to the ones that did not. For the high and medium potential agro-ecological zones sample, we found that consumption expenditures were not associated with crop loss. In the arid and semi-arid zones sample, aggregate and food expenditures reduced for households affected by crop loss. The findings provide a basis of policy recommendations on the need for the existing government poverty alleviation programmes to focus on drivers of impoverishment such as transitory income shocks. Keywords: transitory income shocks, consumption expenditure, agro-ecological zones, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-12-04 Publication date:June 30th 201

The Impact of Colonial Land Tenure Policies on the Gusii People in Kenya

Different scholars have looked at the general economic impacts of the land reforms and legal implications at national level. However, a few studies have been done on economic history in Gusiiland. This study aimed at analyzing the impact of the colonial land tenure reforms on the Abagusii customary land tenure practices in Gusii, Kenya. This study used the articulation of modes of production theory to analyze the effects of land reforms on the Abagusii community from 1895 to 1963. Descriptive Survey Design was used to guide the study.Purposive and snowball sampling methods was instrumental in selected the respondents with a sample size of 61 informants. The primary sources of data were obtained from the archives, field interviews, observation and focus group discussions while secondary data was obtained from written sources like books, Journals, magazines, periodicals, Newspaper Articles, unpublished theses, seminar papers, and electronically stored information on the internet. Logical historical method was employed in the actual process of analyzing and interpreting the data gathered.The study established that land consolidation and the issuance of individual land owners with title deeds has increased land conflicts, land titling and issuance of individual titles has increased land speculation, and land tenure reforms have failed to solve land problems or improve the agricultural sector, as well as, failing to change the African mind set or behavior of the smallholder farmers in Gusii, Kenya

Community Perception of Cultural Identity of Heritage Sites for Determining Local Participation in their Management and Conservation: The Case of Thimlich Ohinga and Seme-Kaila in Kenya

The study investigated the significance of cultural identity of prehistoric settlements in establishing community participation in their conservation and management for ecotourism promotion. This was accomplished using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as, content analysis. The research employed value theory to interpret the data and provide clarity of the research findings. The study concluded that there is a significant relationship between community perception of cultural identity of the sites and community participation in their conservation and management for ecotourism promotion. High level of community perception of cultural identity of Thimlich Ohinga indicates high community participation in the conservation and management of the site. Low level of community perception of cultural identity of Seme-Kaila shows low community participation in the conservation and management of the site. KEY WORDS: Cultural identity, community perception, community participation, management, conservation, heritage site

How can emerging economies meet development and climate goals in the transport-energy system? Modelling co-developed scenarios in Kenya using a socio-technical approach

Transport-energy transitions pose complex challenges that have been extensively studied in high-income countries in response to national mandates for climate action. Low- and middle-income countries, however, have low but rapidly growing motorisation rates and face very different challenges in adopting new technologies to foster economic development and ensure equitable access to clean transportation. Here, we present a set of narrative scenarios for the future of the Kenyan transport-energy system co-developed through engagement with 41 local experts and decision-makers. Through the co-development of a Kenyan transport-energy system model, we present a decision-support tool, populated with those scenarios, to assist policymakers at regional, national and international levels in building policy and investment pipelines to support low-carbon economic growth. We find that Kenya’s transport-energy system can meet both development and climate goals, but this demands strong policy support for efficient public transport and targeted support for road vehicle electrification. Increased support for non-motorised transport is essential to provide equitable access to services and economic opportunities. Favourable pathways result in significant e-mobility uptake, which is anticipated to increase electricity demand by 5%–56% from 2023 to 2040, relative to the IEA Kenya Energy Outlook’s Stated Policies scenario, representing a 2.7–3.9x increase in Kenya’s total electricity demand over the same period. From a macro-fiscal perspective, results show that e-mobility has two important consequences for Kenya. Firstly, under high e-mobility scenarios, there is a negative fiscal impact that taxation revenues from the sale of transport fuels reduce by up to 41% relative to the low e-mobility scenario (though, notably, they still increase marginally from the 2023 level because of increasing transport demand). Secondly, high e-mobility scenarios have a positive impact on balance of payments by reducing the fuel import bill by up to 69% relative to the low e-mobility baseline. This corresponds to a reduction in foreign exchange requirement of up to $4.2bn annually by 205