The Impact of Commercial Horticulture on River Water Resources in the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro River Basin, Kenya

Lanari, Nora; Schuler, R. H.; Köhler, Thomas; Liniger, Hanspeter

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-16-00135

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…Thus, import dependency was often both a cause and an effect of limited agricultural development rather than of a shift to a more profitable non-agricultural economy (OECD 2013). In response to import dependency, debt, and import restrictions in developed countries, developing countries had to export nontraditional products such as exotic foods and flowers, which often contributed to land degradation, destruction of local food systems, and social inequality (Friedmann 1993, Hale and Opondo 2005, Mena-Vásconez et al 2016, Lanari et al 2018. At the same time, overproduction in developed countries often occurred at huge environmental cost in terms of pollution from use of fertilizers and pesticides, loss of habitat and biodiversity in intensive monocultures, and topsoil erosion (Ward 1993, Montgomery 2007.…”

Section: Recent History Of Virtual Trade and Trade Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

D’Odorico

Carr

Dalin

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

148

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The increasing global demand for farmland products is placing unprecedented pressure on the global agricultural system and its water resources. Many regions of the world, that are affected by a chronic water scarcity relative to their population, strongly depend on the import of agricultural commodities and associated embodied (or virtual) water. The globalization of water through virtual water trade (VWT) is leading to a displacement of water use and a disconnection between human populations and the water resources they rely on. Despite the recognized importance of these phenomena in reshaping the patterns of water dependence through teleconnections between consumers and producers, their effect on global and regional water resources has just started to be quantified. This review investigates the global spatiotemporal dynamics, drivers, and impacts of VWT through an integrated analysis of surface water, groundwater, and root-zone soil moisture consumption for agricultural production; it evaluates how virtual water flows compare to the major 'physical water fluxes' in the Earth System; and provides a new reconceptualization of the hydrologic cycle to account also for the role of water redistribution by the hidden 'virtual water cycle'.

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Section: Recent History Of Virtual Trade and Trade Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

D’Odorico

Carr

Dalin

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is also important to note that most of the CFAs began as CBOs that expanded their activities to demand user rights over forests. In Kenya we observed high heterogeneity among the membership of smallholders and large-scale horticulture producers who also depended on the same surface water for irrigation (Peter et al 2018;Lanari et al 2018). WRUAs not only manage the water resources but also form community water projects that help the communities to access water (Mutea, Rist, and Jacobi 2020).…”

Section: Forms Of Social Self-organization In Kenya and Boliviamentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Self-Organization and Social-Ecological Resilience in Food Systems: Lessons from Smallholder Agriculture in Kenya and Indigenous Guaraní Communities in Bolivia

Mukhovi¹,

Jacobi²,

Llanque³

et al. 2020

Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal

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Food systems face pressures related to global environmental change and agricultural intensification that make access to productive resources difficult for many actors. Social self-organization is one of the measures taken by actors to enable them to increase their capacity to mitigate challenges and increase their influence as well as build resilience against risks. The objectives of this study were to assess the level of social self-organization in food systems, to identify forms of social self-organization and the motivations behind them, and to analyze the benefits to food systems socialecological resilience. We collected data from various actor groups at different levels of food systems using mixed methods. Analysis involved six indicators that were scored on a Likert scale. The study observed that smallholders in Kenya organized in women's self-help groups, agro-ecological movements, and cooperatives, while in Bolivia the Guaraní indigenous people organized in movements addressing territorial integrity. Social self-organization was found to be important in resilience building at a community level and has potential to contribute to more sustainable food systems. However, more research on the link between social self-organization and policy change across scales would provide additional interesting insights.

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“…Ewaso Nyiro drainage basin population has increased rapidly in recent past. For instance, Laikipia County population has tripled over the last three decades from 134,524 in 1979 to 399,227 in 2009 [22]. The upper reach has a population density of 100 people per km 2 and about 10 in the lower reaches that are arid and semiarid [8].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regular monitoring of water sources used for domestic purposes is therefore paramount to safeguard human health. Previous documented studies of Ewaso Nyiro were based on water management, scarcity and conflicts [22,41]. The current study was conducted to (1) determine heavy metal and nutrient concentration in surface water of Ewaso Nyiro River, (2) assess probable sources of heavy metals and nutrients pollution, (3) evaluate whether Ewaso Nyiro River is under ecological risk and (4) determine whether domestic, irrigation and livestock use of Ewaso Nyiro River surface water poses any health risk to consumers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in Ewaso Nyiro River surface water, Kenya

et al. 2021

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Ewaso Nyiro basin covers an area of about 210,226 km2, 36.3%, of Kenya drainage area and bears 5.8% of Kenya water potential with an annual yield of 1469 million m3. The river is the principal source of domestic and irrigation water to the arid north of Kenya. To determine metal and nutrient concentration of Ewaso Nyiro River surface water, a total of 30 water samples, 15 samples each for dry (February) and wet (August) seasons of 2019, were collected. Chromium, lead, iron, manganese, cobalt, cadmium, mercury, selenium, molybdenum, boron, copper, zinc, arsenic, nickel, aluminum, total phosphorus and nitrate were analyzed in the two seasons. Ecological risk assessment was determined by calculating contamination factor, pollution load index and ecological risk index. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to infer pollutants association and identify their potential sources. Cadmium, arsenic, lead, molybdenum, mercury, selenium and nickel were not detected in both seasons, while manganese, iron and aluminum were the main pollutants identified. Ewaso Nyiro irrigation water had a manganese contamination factor of 9.17, implying it was very contaminated. Twenty-seven and 40% of sampled sites in dry and wet seasons, respectively, had more than 0.3 mg/L of iron that is recommended by USEPA in drinking water. Herbicides, leached fertilizer and fuel leaking into the river water were the primary sources of anthropogenic pollution.

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The Impact of Commercial Horticulture on River Water Resources in the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro River Basin, Kenya

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 17 publications

References 22 publications

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

Social Self-Organization and Social-Ecological Resilience in Food Systems: Lessons from Smallholder Agriculture in Kenya and Indigenous Guaraní Communities in Bolivia

Ecological and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in Ewaso Nyiro River surface water, Kenya

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