Climate Variability and Water Resources Degradation in Kenya

Mogaka, Hezron; Gichere, Samuel; Davis, R. J.; Hirji, Rafik

doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-6517-5

Cited by 44 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The impacts of the recent floods, droughts and rainfall variability on farmers are consistent with much of the literature of similar climate-related hazards in the area [35]. The literature on coping strategies also highlights similar strategies to those used by farmers in this study [36].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Reducing subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Subsistence farmers are among the people most vulnerable to current climate variability. Climate models predict that climate change will lead to warmer temperatures, increasing rainfall variability, and increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events. Agroforestry, or the intentional use of trees in the cropping system, has been proposed by many development practitioners as a potential strategy to help farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate change. This study explores whether and, if so, how agroforestry techniques can help subsistence farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate change. From field research conducted in western Kenya, we find that households are not currently coping with climate-related hazards in a sustainable way. Farmers are aware of this, and believe that the most effective way to adapt to climate-related shocks is through improving their general standard of living. We evaluated agroforestry as one possible means of improving farmers' well-being. By comparing farmers engaged in an agroforestry project with a control group of neighboring farmers, we find that involvement in agroforestry improves household's general standard of living via improvements in farm productivity, off-farm incomes, wealth and the environmental conditions of their farm. We conclude that agroforestry techniques can be used as an effective part of a broader development strategy to help subsistence farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate-related hazards.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Reducing subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The changes of local climate and the hydrological regime in Nakuru and the Rift Valley region cannot result only from a rain shadow of the Mau Escarpment, but from global climate change and population growth accompanied by rising exploitation of water resources (Mogaka et al, 2006). As shown by satellite images, forest excision on such a large scale as it has been happening in the case of the Mau Forest has induced a rapid decrease of humidity, guided by a consequent rise of temperature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several studies (Shivoga et al, 2007;Kitaka, Harper, Mavuti, & Pacini, 2002;Raini, 2009aRaini, , 2009bMogaka, Gichere, Davis, & Hirji, 2006) dealing with the hydrological response of catchments, river outflows, water quality and hydrological regimes of lakes. A common feature of these papers is the monitoring of land cover/use changes (Baldyga, Miller, Driese, & Gichaba, 2007) and its impact on water quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Mau Forest Clear Cut on Temperature Distribution and Hydrology of Catchment of Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha: Preliminary Study

Hesslerová

Pokorný²

2010

Water and Nutrient Management in Natural and Constructed Wetlands

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A decrease in total area of tropical forests is considered as a significant factor that influences landscape functioning, including the hydrological cycle; it contributes to climate change, and has many other consequences. This paper presents the extent of deforestation in Nakuru and Naivasha region (Rift Valley, Central Kenya) between the years 1986 and 2005 and its effects upon thermal characteristics of the landscape. Such changes have immense impact on hydrological regimes of the Rift Valley lakes in central Kenya. Multispectral data from Landsat TM, ETM + and Terra Aster were used to determinate dense and humid forests as well as their changes over time. A field observation, realized during the "dry" rainy season in October 2008, confirmed evident decline of precipitation and consequent low water discharge from the deforested catchment in the rivers and water level in lakes.

show abstract

“…The global reliance on groundwater to meet water demands has increased during the last few decades [ Giordano , ; Famiglietti and Rodell , ; Famiglietti , ] due to factors including rising populations, agriculture, industry [ Gleick , ; Morris et al ., ], and climatic stressors including drought [ Scanlon et al ., ; Castle et al ., ]. These factors combined with limited to nonexisting water and land policies and poor governance [ Mogaka , ; Giordano , ] render groundwater resources in many parts of the world susceptible to overexploitation and depletion. These factors have reportedly contributed to groundwater depletion at regional [e.g., Dhawan , ; Changming et al ., ; Karami and Hayati , ; Rodell et al ., ; Scanlon et al ., ; Thomas and Famiglietti , ] and global scales [ Wada et al ., ; Schwartz and Ibaraki , ; Gleeson et al ., ; Taylor et al ., ; Döll et al ., ; Richey et al ., , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring groundwater storage changes in complex basement aquifers: An evaluation of the GRACE satellites over East Africa

Nanteza

Linage

Thomas

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although the use of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites to monitor groundwater storage changes has become commonplace, our evaluation suggests that careful processing of the GRACE data is necessary to extract a representative signal especially in regions with significant surface water storage (i.e., lakes/reservoirs). In our study, we use cautiously processed data sets, including GRACE, lake altimetry, and model soil moisture, to reduce scaling factor bias and compare GRACE‐derived groundwater storage changes to in situ groundwater observations over parts of East Africa. Over the period 2007–2010, a strong correlation between in situ groundwater storage changes and GRACE groundwater estimates (Spearman's ρ = 0.6) is found. Piecewise trend analyses for the GRACE groundwater estimates reveal significant negative storage changes that are attributed to groundwater use and climate variability. Further analysis comparing groundwater and satellite precipitation data sets permits identification of regional groundwater characterization. For example, our results identify potentially permeable and/or shallow groundwater systems underlying Tanzania and deep and/or less permeable groundwater systems underlying the Upper Nile basin. Regional groundwater behaviors in the semiarid regions of Northern Kenya are attributed to hydraulic connections to recharge zones outside the subbasin boundary. Our results prove the utility of applying GRACE in monitoring groundwater resources in hydrologically complex regions that are undersampled and where policies limit data accessibility.

show abstract

Climate Variability and Water Resources Degradation in Kenya

Cited by 44 publications

References 0 publications

Reducing subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya

Reducing subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya

Effect of Mau Forest Clear Cut on Temperature Distribution and Hydrology of Catchment of Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha: Preliminary Study

Monitoring groundwater storage changes in complex basement aquifers: An evaluation of the GRACE satellites over East Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About