BASELINE SURVEY REPORT FOR ITHUMULA CBO ON NZEEU,...
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BASELINE SURVEY REPORT FOR ITHUMULA CBO ON NZEEU, SEMEA AND KOOMA RIVERS ECOSYSTEM (IKANGA ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION PROJECT) Cover photo: showing how scanty the water is in the rivers and the need for the sand dams OCTOBER, 2012
Transcript of BASELINE SURVEY REPORT FOR ITHUMULA CBO ON NZEEU,...
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BASELINE SURVEY REPORT FOR ITHUMULA CBO ON NZEEU, SEMEA AND
KOOMA RIVERS ECOSYSTEM (IKANGA ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION
PROJECT)
Cover photo: showing how scanty the water is in the rivers and the need for the sand dams
OCTOBER, 2012
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This report was prepared by:
KRYPTONE CONSULTING
ENVIRONMENT/PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
P.O BOX 202- 06518 RUARAKA, NAIROBI, KENYA
Email- [email protected]
Site-http://kryptoneconsultingltd.weebly.com
Submitted to:
DAVID MUTUA
Project manager
And
GIDEON MUNYALO
PIC Chairman
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Kryptone Consulting would like to express its sincere thanks to the management, PIC and staff
of Ithumula CBO for their valuable technical inputs. We are grateful to the project manager Mr.
David Mutua for his technical inputs provided at different stages of the survey and facilitating
our fieldwork. The firm would also like to thank CDTF, DANIDA and EU for their financial
support.
Our sincere appreciation to all respondents in the surveyed areas for sharing information and
their invaluable ideas, but also for heartiest cooperation during our field visits.
Special thanks to go to the PIC members for the commitment in making the survey interesting by
their remarkable inputs without you exhibiting this level of commitment, we would never had
this product in a timely and excellent shape.
We are greatly indebted to the survey team for their devotion even amidst their busy schedules.
Without your support, efforts to make this survey a success would have been elusive. Special
thanks to the survey team including: Aron Makota Mary, Jackline Kamuti, Jane King’oo, Janet
Peter, Victor K. Muende and Anthony.
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Table of Contents
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... iii
List of tables ................................................................................................................................................. vi
List of figures ............................................................................................................................................... vii
List of photographs .................................................................................................................................... viii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... x
1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1
1.0 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Objectives of the survey .......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2.1 Broad objective .................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2.2 Specific objectives ............................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Specific tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Expected outputs ..................................................................................................................................... 5
2.0 SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS ............................................................................... 6
2.1 Sampling procedure ................................................................................................................................ 6
2.2 Data collections methods ........................................................................................................................ 7
2.2.1 Questionnaires ...................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2.2 Literature review .................................................................................................................................. 7
2.2.3 Focused group discussions ................................................................................................................... 8
2.3 Data processing and analysis .................................................................................................................. 8
2.4 Quality control ........................................................................................................................................ 8
3.0 KEY SURVEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................... 9
3.1 Existence of Ithumula CBO .................................................................................................................... 9
3.2 Social Characteristics ............................................................................................................................ 11
3.2.1 Households Setup ............................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.2 Access to water for domestic use ....................................................................................................... 14
3.2.3 Access to the source of energy ........................................................................................................... 17
3.2.4 Sources of livelihoods ........................................................................................................................ 18
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4.0 BASELINE FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION ................................................................ 22
5.0 INTERVENTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD ............................. 24
5.1 Community training needs .................................................................................................................... 24
5.2 Develop a community environment management plan (CEMP) .......................................................... 24
5.3 Intensify awareness creation ................................................................................................................. 24
5.4 Factor in rural poverty .......................................................................................................................... 24
5.5 Potential areas of venture ...................................................................................................................... 25
6.0 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................... 26
Annexes 1: House hold questionnaire ................................................................................................ 27
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List of tables
Table 1: Showing the rate of awareness of the organization in different sub locations
Table 2: Showing different percentages of food crops as grown by different households
Table 3: Showing baseline monitoring and evaluation framework
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List of figures
Fig 1: Showing the sampling frame and the household sampled in each sub location and village
Fig 2: Showing how knowledge of the organization is distributed within the sub locations
Fig 3: Showing different family structures within the regions sampled
Fig 4: Showing sex representation in the questionnaire response
Fig 5: Showing poverty index distribution among the respondents.
Fig 6: Showing households access to different sources of water.
Fig 7: Showing what communities are interested in once the sand dams are constructed
Fig 8: Showing the rates at which different alternative sources of energy are accessed by the
households
Fig 9: Showing different animals reared in the surveyed households
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List of photographs
Cover photo: Showing how scanty the water is in the rivers and the need for the sand dams
Photo 1: Showing semi permanent housing in the area talking feature for high level of poverty
Photo 2: Showing a waiting queue to get water as it’s scarce
Photo 3: Showing some indigenous trees to be planted in the area
Photo 4: Showing an own initiative of a terrace dug to reduce soil erosion
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List of abbreviations
CDTF- Community Development Trust Fund
CEF- Community Environment Facility
PIC- Project Implementation Committee
CBO- Community Based Organization
HHs- House Holds
KII- Key Informant Interviews
EU- European Union
MENR- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
FGD- Focused Group Discussions
RAs-Research Assistants
CEMP- Community Environment Management Plan
IGAs- Income Generating Activities
TOT-Trainer of Trainees
BLS- Baseline Survey
S.H.G - Self Help Groups
WRMA-Water Resources Management Authority
NEMA-National Environmental Management Authority
CRS-Catholic Relief Services
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The project is constituted by Ithumula CBO with an objective of contributing to poverty
reduction through sustainable environmental conservation. The project will lead to strengthening
of community environment conservation in river catchments, planting of over 350,000 trees in
both private and public sites that are 150000 fruit tree seedlings in individual shambas and public
institutions and 100000 indigenous seedlings along river banks. The project will also embark on
digging long terraces on sloppy shambas to conserve approximately 2000 hectares of land and
construction of sand dams along the rivers in the area for water retention.
The project has the following objectives to achieve namely; to conserve the environment through
increase of tree cover in farms and the river banks, to improve community livelihoods by using
appropriate farming technologies and promoting fruit trees production and to improve water
accessibility through construction of water preservation structures.
The project has the overall objective of supporting community projects aimed at poverty
reduction through improved livelihoods systems and the conservation of community natural
resources and initiatives for enhanced environmental management and governance. This survey
was objective to; Conduct a survey the captured the baseline status of the various proposed
interventions as listed in the project document, Establish baseline indicators for the project on the
basis of sound ecological, socio-economic status and gender dimensions of poverty and
environment conservation for monitoring and evaluation of the project impacts, Develop
participatory methodologies with clear data sets and indicators for determining change
(ecological, socio-economic and gender), Review the project’s M&E system including tools and
provide technical advice on how they can be enhanced for impact measurement, Highlighting the
extent the projects have acknowledged other cross-cutting issues e.g. HIV/AIDS, governance and
reproductive health and come up with strategies to mainstream them in project.
To facilitate monitoring and evaluation of the project results, Ithumula CBO have initiated
baseline survey with the aim of establishing a benchmark for the project in line with log frame.
The baseline targeted the project areas.
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This survey was undertaken to identify and analyze the socio-economic aspects of the
communities within the project implementation sites. As such data was collected in the six sub
location of Ikanga location covered by the project namely; Ilusya, Ithumula, Makele,
Nduundune, Kathungu and Kiangwa. Following these sub locations several villages were
random sampled were questionnaires were administered. Random sampling was used in each
village to get the possible respondents. A sample size of 120 respondents was considered a
representative enough for this survey.
The findings of the study indicated that the surrounding communities largely depend on their
surrounding as their main source of income, although in varying degrees in direct and indirect,
option and existence/ values and benefits.
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background
The Ikanga Environment conservation projects lies in Ikanga Division, Mutomo District in the
large Kitui County. The area is generally classified as semi arid with very little and unreliable
rainfall. Poverty levels in the division are about 71%. Livelihoods are largely dependent on the
exploitation of natural resources through subsistence farming, livestock keeping, charcoal
production, and sand harvesting. The District produces 10 trucks of charcoal a day to Nairobi;
this is a result of high poverty rate and the community ignorance of environment conservation.
The target ecosystem has undergone continuous degradation through loss of vegetation cover,
soil erosion and degraded river banks. This has resulted in negative ecological impacts as the
community is now threatened with acute water shortage. For the ecosystem to continue
supporting livelihoods of the local people, it is important to enhance water availability, manage
soil erosion and increase agricultural production.
This project seeks to minimize the environmental degradation of the Nzeeu and Semeu Rivers
catchment area which will address the problems of soil erosion, declining water availability,
deforestation and degradation of river banks. It will provide local community with alternative
technologies to improve land productivity but sustainable sources of livelihood.
Ithumula CBO has previously implemented a similar project though they have been mobilizing
community on water provision and terracing projects funded by DANIDA and CRS. The CBO
expect to engage consultants or use of the associate in order to equip the Project management
committee members with the necessary skills to manage the project. These associates are from
the line ministries which are instrumental in implementation of the project activities.
Within the CBO membership there exist fairly good experiences to implement the tree planting
and terracing components. Within the community members there are 14 trained terrace makers
and can begin implementation by working with them even as they look forward towards training
more terrace makers. The field where there is no existing capacity within the community is in
sand dam construction though they are working with Ministry of water and Irrigation who are
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one of the associate expected to give guidance and support to the implementation of this
component.
The management committee have undergone training and leadership skills development,
effective communication, record keeping, project management, PRA techniques and monitoring
and evaluation tools development. This was in training programmes supported by DANIDA and
CRS over the last four years.
1.2 Objectives of the survey
The overall objective of this survey is to establish the pre-intervention situation prior to project
start up hereby preparing the ground for project performance measurement. The principal focus
of the baseline is to collect and analyze pre-intervention data relating to the objectively verifiable
indicators (OVIs) for the project goal and objectives. The baseline is done to establish
benchmarks for the chosen indicators, i.e., to provide data on their initial status so that
subsequent monitoring and evaluation can assess the effects and impacts of the project for the
target population. The baseline also has the purpose of assessing the measurability of the
selected indicators and will, if necessary, be used to fine tune them for future follow-up. Overall
the baseline study establishes the benchmarks for monitoring and evaluation of the project aimed
at ensuring realistic assessment of the project performance as indicated in the logical framework
analysis of the project.
1.2.1 Broad objective
The overall objective of the survey was to establish the current status of the ecological, socio-
economic and gender dimension and assist the project in developing a strong monitoring and
evaluation framework.
1.2.2 Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the survey were;
To assess, understand and document the current (before the project interventions) social,
economic situation of the Ithumula cbo members and Ikanga community in general.
To assess and document current status as per project main components including and not
limited to:
Capacity building the Ikanga community members: Types of existing and
practiced skills & knowledge among the Ithumula cbos and general community
members of Ikanga location in regard to sustainable management of natural
resources and livelihood interventions, environment conservation, trees planting,
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water conservation, water sources development, distribution and management, dry
land farming, crops and livestock produces & products value addition, renewable
energy technology and management, horticulture, leadership, governance,
financial management, project development and management, financial &
institutional sustainability and strategic planning.
Planting of trees for economic and conservation purposes, environmental
conservation and management: Environmental status in terms of; average tree
coverage percentage at household level, land holding, riparian conservation and
trees & grass coverage and trees products and services access at present, the rate
of trees cutting, for what and why, types of trees grown, purpose, by who and
where and challenges faced by the community concerning environmental issues
and conservation. Soil and water conservation situation; the level of conservation
at household level, methods of conservation used, main causes of soil & water
erosion and challenges faced.
Water harvesting and distribution: Water situation in Ikanga location in terms of
quality, time taken to & from water sources, waiting time at the source, volumes
of water available in a year per sources, percentage of households with access to
adequate quality water and for how long in a year, current sources of water and
their yield round the year, uses of water by the community and institutions and
markets and the challenges faced in water issues.
Promotion of dry land farming: Food security; the current sources of food, level
of food security at household level, types food crops produced (cereals, pulses,
roots and vegetables), sources of seeds, type of seeds, quality of seeds, availability
of seeds in terms of quantities & timeliness and seeds viability, technologies used
in crops, vegetables production, diversity of production in terms of crops and
livestock /fish production, technologies used in livestock & fish production, value
addition levels, market access and profitability, challenges faced in food security
issues at household level and at general Ikanga communities.
Promotion and development of renewable energy technologies: The current
energy sources for cooking, lighting and water pumping, energy saving devices in
use in cooking, lighting and water pumping, other uses of renewable energy at
household and institutional levels and for commercial purposes, level of access
and use of technology in renewable energy, sources of the technology, challenges
in energy sector at household, institutional, markets and at community in general.
Promoting horticultural farming: The level of access to vegetables by Ikanga
community members round the year, sources of vegetables, types of vegetables
available, technologies of production, value addition and storage levels and
technologies in use, challenges faced in terms of production, access and use of
high quality and nutritive vegetables in Ikanga communities.
Establish baseline indicators for the project on the basis of sound ecological, socio-
economic status and gender dimensions of poverty and environment conservation for
monitoring and evaluation of the project impacts.
Develop participatory methodologies with clear data sets and indicators for determining
change ( ecological, socio-economic and gender)
Review the project’s M&E system including tools and provide technical advice on how
they can be enhanced for impact measurement
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Highlighting the extent the projects have acknowledged other cross-cutting issues e.g.
HIV/AIDS, governance and reproductive health and come up with strategies to
mainstream them in project.
Document recommendations on the challenges faced within lower Ikanga division and
other emerging issues as a result of conducting baseline survey.
Conduct a survey the captured the baseline status of the various proposed interventions as
listed in the project document
Establish baseline indicators for the project on the basis of sound ecological, socio-
economic status and gender dimensions of poverty and environment conservation for
monitoring and evaluation of the project impacts
Develop participatory methodologies with clear data sets and indicators for determining
change (ecological, socio-economic and gender)
Review the project’s M&E system including tools and provide technical advice on how
they can be enhanced for impact measurement.
Highlighting the extent the projects have acknowledged other cross-cutting issues e.g.
HIV/AIDS, governance and reproductive health and come up with strategies to
mainstream them in project.
1.4 Specific tasks
The consultant in consultation with the project implementation committee and other stakeholders
were responsible for the following tasks;
Identification and defining baseline priority areas and indicators
Plan and implement data collection
Designing, critique and refining of data collection tools
Facilitating the survey crew training and data collection tools field pre-testing
Perform data analysis and report writing
Revise the log frame in the project document
Write-up a concise baseline report with annexes
Present a draft report to the PIC and other stakeholders in a feedback session and
incorporate relevant suggestions in the final draft.
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1.5 Expected outputs
The survey is expected to generate the following output
The current baseline status of the proposed interventions was determined and
documented
Clear indicators on ecological, socio-economic and gender aspects developed
Participatory methodologies for measuring changes of various interventions during the
project implementation period developed
Revised log frame with clearly defined indicators
Strategies for mainstreaming cross cutting issues developed
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2.0 SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS
The survey used both primary and secondary data sources. It blended qualitative and quantitative
methods buttressed by participatory research/ survey techniques.
2.1 Sampling procedure
The survey was conducted in Ikanga location of Mutomo district in Kitui County. The
methodology used in this work was especially guided by the terms of reference and available
documentation environmental conservation project in the above location of the survey
consideration. A multistage purposive sampling procedure was employed in the selection of
survey population. The main sampling unit of the survey was the household. The team relied on
the opinion of local leadership to select a truly representative. Purposive sampling of the survey
area was used from location to village level. The purposive sampling method employed in this
survey was based on the understanding that communities are homogenous particularly in terms
of levels of environmental conservation challenges, socio-economic values attached and
development concerns and threats.
Random sampling was done in the sub-location to select the villages to participate in this survey
as respondents. Random sampling was done in 6 sub location constituting Ikanga location to pick
the villages. 24 villages namely; Ngangani, Kivunu, Ndithini, Kwa Songe, Matua, Nzalani,
Kooma, Nduundune, Kavuthuka, Muselele, Nziani, Ilusya Center, Ilangilo, Manzee, Ndithini,
Ungatu, Mwalevu, Ithumula, Syithani, Kumukumu were picked randomly out of many where in
each village we administered 5 questionnaires giving a total of 120 administered questionnaires.
Overall a total of 120 households were considered a representative enough within the project
area for this survey. The figure below illustrates a summary of the sampling procedure.
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Fig 1: Showing the sampling frame and the household sampled in each sub location and
village
2.2 Data collections methods
2.2.1 Questionnaires
The basic method used by this survey was qualitative/ key informant interviews. Using these
methods the researchers held interviews with various teams; project implementation committee,
project manager and other key stakeholders in the project sites. Although respondents were
randomly selected, every attempt was made to get a balanced opinion of the socio-economic
issues in survey areas and how they affect forest management, putting issues of gender, age and
disability into consideration.
2.2.2 Literature review
The researchers used secondary data content analysis. In this published work on environmental
conservation in Kenya was analyzed to assess trends and analyze changes and correlate such data
with the current facts on the ground.
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2.2.3 Focused group discussions
Group discussions were conducted as a follow up to the content analysis and individual
interactions in interviews. These discussions were conducted at community level mainly with
people who depend largely on the forests. This helped the researchers to identify, enumerate and
analyze occurrences and developments of the forests sector and also in corroborating information
in the different reports reviewed.
2.3 Data processing and analysis
The data was entered and analyzed using the SPSS program. Ms Excel was also used for data
analysis. The research team specified the most crucial questions to be analyzed and the kind of
analysis they needed. Some of the survey questions allowed the respondent to give more than
one response. The advantage is that it offered possible responses to the issue in question. The
analysis of such data used the method of aggregating the various responses according to their
frequencies.
2.4 Quality control
Interviewers were instructed to check questionnaires completeness and accuracy on interview
site. At the end of each day, questionnaire debriefing sessions were held between the supervisors
and all interviewers, the interviews were asked to write daily qualitative information noted.
Agreement for common definitions was done to maintain uniformity. This was important in
capturing important data that would have been left out by the restrictive design of the research
instruments.
The assessment of socio-economic conditions involved identification of frontline stakeholders,
competing uses, forests based economic activities, social interactions and overall contribution to
the forests systems management to the local socio-economic conditions of the households
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3.0 KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
3.1 Existence of Ithumula CBO
Data obtained from the surveyed households from each sub location gave different answers
about the whether organization existed and there different activities. Most of the surveyed
households gave planting trees, digging terraces to stabilize soils as some of the activities carried
by the organization. Table below shows different levels as realized in each sub location
SUB-LOCATION AWARE NOT AWARE
KATHUNGU 98% 2%
NDUUNDUNE 100% ___
ILUSYA 55% 45%
KIANGWA 90% 10%
ITHUMULA 100% ____
MAKELE 60% 40%
Table 1: Showing the rate of awareness of the organization in different sub locations
This data was represented in following comparative bar graph below
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Fig 2: Showing how knowledge of the organization is distributed within the sub locations
This revealed that Ilusya had a higher number of households who don’t know whether Ithumula
CBO existed with 45% followed by Makele with 40%. This implies that the organization and
the project must initiate a lot of capacity building within these locations. These also imply that
the project must prepare to get some sabotage when implementing projects in these areas as most
of the households don’t know the organization.
The organization’s project will receive a warm implementation in Kathungu, Nduundune,
Kiangwa and Ithumula simply because most of the households know the existence of the
organization and its activities. This will help boost the success of the project as there is some
sense of ownership of the project by the community.
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3.2 Social Characteristics
3.2.1 Households Setup
The baseline survey revealed that all members of Ithumula CBO areas of operation are Kamba
by tribe. The survey also revealed on the family structures with 78.9% being married, 12.1%
being widows, widowers at 2% and single mothers at 7%.
Fig 3: Showing different family structures within the regions sampled
This shows that marriage institution is very much respected as there are no cases of divorcees
indicated in the research. In terms of gender respondents, the survey revealed most of the
community members available in Ithumula location homesteads for the interviews were females.
This was revealed by the gender respondents to our survey where females were 68% and the
males were 32%. However most of the households surveyed are headed by males with 77.8%
and by females at 22.2%.
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Fig 4: Showing sex representation in the questionnaire response
This denotes that most of the men were either in urban areas or other rural areas working as
casuals or in permanent jobs and hence most of the families are being managed by the females.
This will also bring the ration to which the genders have their impacts in their surroundings
within that area to 17:8 females and males respectively. This implied that the females have large
impetus of the local natural resources than men in that same area. It is important therefore to
consider the fact that women should form the majority of the community members to be
involved in the Ithumula environmental conservation project and any other income generating
activities within the area so as to boost its sustainability. It is also of essence to promote gender
balance while ensuring that the level of participation of women be fairly good because they are
more available most of the times than the males and their labor is readily available.
The survey indicated that many of the households are headed by males with 89% headed by
males and 11% by females. Also the analysis indicated that ages of the households head
indicated that about 59% of them both males and females are above 35 years. Their average age
is 40 years. The organizations working within the area should largely involve youths both males
and females not necessarily the household heads in their undertakings.
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As pertains the well being of the members surveyed, most of them had been perceived by the
group to be in the well being category of the poor 65.7% while other perceived as very poor
28.5% , rich at 5% and very rich at 0.8%. This may imply that organization working within area
may include large numbers of the poor people and be cautious of the rich people so that they
would sabotage the implementation of the project within the same region.
Fig 5: Showing poverty index distribution among the respondents.
These high poverty levels would lead to increase in prostitution hence raising the HIV/AIDS
prevalence in the area.
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Photo 1: Showing semi permanent housing in the area talking feature for high level of
poverty
3.2.2 Access to water for domestic use
The survey showed that on 83% of all households have access to safe water for consumption
with a distance of less than 3kms from their households while 17% having difficulties in
accessing the same this was revealed in the following sub locations; Ithumula, Kiangwa,
Nduundune, Makele, and Kathungu. Those accessing water in more than 3kms and up to 7kms
were largely realized in Ilusya sub location. The survey showed that the households get water
from different areas with 79% from rivers, 7% from the dams and 14% from the borehole. A
critical observation realized that most of boreholes only existed in Ithumula sub location. It was
also noted that most of these rivers are seasonal and can only provide water during rainy season
and some days after, after the rainy season the members largely depend shallow wells as main
source of water.
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Fig 6: Showing households access to different sources of water.
The survey also revealed that most of the main source of water for the households is not from the
permanent source with 77% households being affected and 23% have a permanent access. This
suggests that most of households have a higher prevalence of water borne diseases when they are
subjected to those alternative sources of water. Data obtained showed that close to 70% of the
time required to fetch water is the waiting time at the source caused by inadequate supply/or
limited delivery capacity of the system. A closer at the data showed that the burden of fetching
water is pushed more to the female and children. So there is a need of the sand dams to be
constructed so as to make water available throughout the year.
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Photo 2: Showing a waiting queue to get water as it’s scarce
The respondents showed a lot of interests with having a sand dam constructed in their area and
will enable them start some income generating activities as well as making some resources
available where 62% of the respondents saying water will be readily available, 24% saying that
sand collection will be made easier as it is readily available. With others suggesting they will
start an irrigation scheme once the water is readily available.
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Fig 7: Showing what communities are interested in once the sand dams are constructed
We asked the member of the community about some of the environmental challenges posed by
these sand dams when constructed along the river where, 68% said the cause shortages of the
water flow downstream, with 23% saying the cause floods in the area constructed and 9%
causing accidents when full of water by people drowning.
3.2.3 Access to the source of energy
Surveyed household mainly use fire wood as their main source of power with 98.3% using it for
cooking purposes and this have a huge negative impact to the environment and especially forests.
According to the focused group discussion the responsibility of fetching firewood mainly falls on
children especially the females. Mothers also participate in collecting firewood. Majority of the
households’ surveyed used 3 head loads per week (52.5%), 29.8% indicated two head loads per
week and 6.3% indicated one head load per house hold per week.
Data obtained showed that there are other different alternative sources of energy for the
households with 68 % using paraffin, 25% using charcoal, and 7% using solar. The use of
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paraffin and charcoal was fairly distributed in all the sub locations while that of the solar energy
was mostly shown in Ithumula sub location.
Fig 8: Showing the rates at which different alternative sources of energy are accessed by
the households
3.2.4 Sources of livelihoods
The main source of livelihood is farming with at least each respondents interviewed mention it.
The level of dependence on each source of livelihood differed within each source. The major
source of livelihood was noted to be causal as indicated by 36% of all the respondents who
specified the source of livelihood. Other major sources highlighted were business, employment
and farming. For example, among those communities depending on casual work for their
livelihood only 14% of them depend entirely on it 23% depend on it partly 85% for their
livelihood. The respondents who indicated business as their major source livelihood are only
12% and who depend entirely on it. Further analysis showed that casual work was a major source
for the only poor at 65.5% and the very poor at 35.5%. Most of the rich people were either in
employment or employment with employment at 62.7 and business at 37.3%
Most of the farmers in the area have small pieces of land. The average total farm size is about 3.1
acres. For most of the respondents the farms are divided into homestead sections
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Further analysis depicted that the community grow food crops such as maize, beans, bananas,
pigeon peas and cassava some of which are sold as cash crops. The table below shows the
percentages involved
Food Crop Percentage
Maize 98.4%
Beans 96.6%
Cassava 53.3%
Sugarcane 14.8%
Sorghum and Millet 2.7%
Pigeon peas 79.5%
Table 2: Showing different percentages of food crops as grown by different households
Livestock keeping was another agricultural activity practiced in the area with 28% rearing cattle,
56 % rearing goats, 4% own sheep and 12% owning chickens.
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Fig 9: Showing different animals reared in the surveyed households
The community in the area has started to appreciate the need for environment management and
have accordingly taken it proactively. For instance in Ithumula sub locations communities have
agreed to plant seedlings in the area in an effort to curtail further degradation of the environment.
Photo 3: Showing some indigenous trees to be planted in the area
Also others have initiated the soil stabilization activity by their own by digging several terraces
in their shambas so as to retain water and reduce erosion by a certain percentage. With this the
community needs to be trained on how to dig them purposely for the above functions.
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Photo 4: Showing an own initiative of a terrace dug to reduce soil erosion
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4.0 BASELINE FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The main objective of BLS if to facilitate monitoring and evaluation of activities of the project
by establishing benchmarks based on the project log frame
Issue Proposed
interventions
Responsibility Measure Indicators/Results
Soil
Erosion
Sensitization on
river bank
protection
Reforestation
Proper land use
Soil and water
management
Implement the
riparian reserve
requirement
Terracing in
shambas
Project
manager
Forestry
department
WRMA
Ministry of
agriculture
PIC
Community
Records of
sensitizatio
n meetings
Number of
indigenous
trees
planted
Site visits
Improved
vegetation
cover on
slopes
Clean water
in rivers
Terraces dug
on shambas
Degraded
river banks
Awareness
raising
Clear
demarcations of
riparian reserves
Tree planting
Discourage the
use of agro-
chemicals near
the river banks
Enforcement of
river riparian
requirement
Project
manager
Forestry
NEMA
PIC
Community
WRMA
Records on
awareness
meetings,
Monitoring
reports
Quarterly
evaluations
Mid-term
evaluation
Final
evaluations
Site visits
Improved
knowledge on
the river
banks
Riparian
rivers
demarcated
and protected
Improved
vegetation
cover
Deforestati
on
Restrict
activities of
logging in the
area
Educate the
community on
different sources
of livelihood
Other than
charcoal burning
Tree planting
(fruit and
indigenous )
Project
manager
Forestry
PIC
Community
Site visits
Monitoring
reports
Records of
the list of
participants
in the
training
Records of
the trees
planted
Raised
awareness on
deforestation
Improved
vegetation
cover
Improved
income levels
Water Construction of
sand dams
Project
manager
Quarterly
reports
Readily
available
23
scarcity Avoiding sand
harvesting
Increase tree
cover
Borehole
drilling
PIC
Community
NEMA
WRMA
Monitoring
reports
Records of
tree planted
water
Increased
vegetation
cover
Table 3: Showing logical framework
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5.0 INTERVENTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD
Considering an in-depth assessment of the communities’ social-economics, their interactions,
their problems, community expectation of the project and their limitations, the survey gave the
respondents an opportunity to input on the way forward for wise resource conservation. This
gave participants an opportunity to make recommendations from their own perspective. The
survey team used these and their general understanding of the project sites to advance a number
of next steps in an effort to advice the PIC members for their success implementation.
5.1 Community training needs
Respondents revealed that they would like to be trained on effective forest management and
conservation methods which should be adopted within their locality. Most of the training needs
to look into aspects like best farming methods, bee keeping, brick making, sisal farming,
livestock management and craft making.
5.2 Develop a community environment management plan (CEMP)
The process of coming up with CEMP is usually participatory in nature and this will give an
opportunity for the implementers to instill and strengthen a sense of ownership in communities
project outcomes.
5.3 Intensify awareness creation
Community participation is being achieved by CEMP, sensitization and educational programs to
empower local communities with knowledge and awareness particularly on ecological roles need
to be scaled up to influence a positive shift of attitude and practices towards forests ecosystems.
5.4 Factor in rural poverty
We have labored to demonstrate majority of the communities are low income earners, perhaps
due to limited alternative sources of income, low levels of education and cultural influence.
Because of this communities only see the environmental resources as only means of getting out
poverty.
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5.5 Potential areas of venture
The project team realized that there some of the areas which are resourceful and have not been
ventured into. Some of these include; bee keeping, sustainable sand harvesting, sisal farming,
brick making.
Photo: Showing successful brick making in the area
26
6.0 CONCLUSIONS
The importance of environmental conservation cannot be underrated and as evidence, almost all
households surveyed in the area benefit from their surrounding in various ways. These findings
show the role of environment play in the lives of these communities. On other hand this gives an
idea on the extent of the pressure being exerted on the natural resources in the area. Community
training needs must be met, awareness raising on environmental values intensified and laws,
guidelines for environment utilization followed to the later.
The project has raised the expectation of the stakeholders in the different capacities. A
participatory approach to the implementation of the project will go a long way in ironing
conflicts of interests and giving opportunities to stakeholders to decide on the next step at
different phases of the project implementation. This will also concretize implementation the
sustainability plan, especially if target frontline communities get a sense that it is for their own
good.
27
Annexes 1: House hold questionnaire
Q1. Background Information: Base tool
Please fill in the information required in the tables below.
Explain the objective of the survey:
This baseline survey is conducted by Ithumula CBO and Kryptone Consulting. The answers of the
interviewees will facilitate the design and implementation of a new conservation project. We are establishing
the current status of the ecological,socio-economic and gender dimension and assist the project in developing
a strong monitoring and evaluation framework.
DO NOT INSIST IF THE PERSON REFUSES TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.
Date of Survey:
Entry Number:
0201/……
Name of researcher: Function of researcher:
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE:
28
a) 1. No Education 2.Nursery 3.Primary 4.Secondary 5.College 6.University 7.Don’t Know
HH
Member,
Number
of HH
members
Relationship
to HH Head
Sex:
1.Male
2.Femle
Age
(Years)
Place
of
Birth
Period
lived in
the
area
Education
Level
Attained
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, and 7
(Indicate
number as
appropriate)
Professional
Training
List all major
Economic
Activities/ income
bracket.
Do you know Ithumula CBO? Yes No
What are activities done by CBO? ……………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
1. What do you understand by the term environment?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
2. List the five major environmental risks you are worried about.
29
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
3. Which level do you think is the most effective for making decisions about protecting the environment?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. In order to contribute to protecting our environment which three things w `
5.
6.
7.
8. would you be ready to do first?
............................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................... .........
............................................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
9. How do you impact on the following around your area?
i) Rivers ………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
ii) Soil………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
iii) Vegetation/forest………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………........................
.......................................................................................................................................
10. How do you manage the above impacts?
i............................................................................................................................ ..................................
ii..............................................................................................................................................................
iii.......................................................................................................................... ...................................
Section 2 – Water
Q1. What is main source of water for the members of your household?
…………………………………………………………………………………
Q2. a) How far is it from your household? ………………………………………….
b) Is it a permanent source? Yes No
Q3. a) Is water from the source safe for consumption? Yes No (IF YES SKIP TO Q4).
b) If no what do you do to make it safe for drinking?
………………………………………………………………………………....................................................
30
..................................................................................................................................................... .......................
........................................................................................................................................
Q4. What are the other uses of that water?
............................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................ ....................................
........................................................................................................................................
Q5. a) Do you recycle the water after use? Yes No (IF NO SKIP TO Q6)
b) If yes how do you use it?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………....................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................
Q6. Do you have any means of harvesting water? ……………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Q7. Do you know what a sand dam is? Yes No (IF NO SKIP TO Q8)
b) Is there any sand dam in your locality? Yes No
Q8. Would you like to have a sand dam in your area? Yes No (IF NO SKIP TO Q9)
b) How will it benefit you?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Q9. What are some of the negative impacts posed by sand dams? …………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Section 3: Energy
Q1. What is the main source of energy in your house hold?
………………………………………………………………………………………
Q2. What are other alternative sources? ……………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
Q3. Where do you get your main source from?
………………………………………………………………………………………
Q4. Is your source sustainable? Yes No
Q5. What environmental problems are you aware of that are associated with the following energy sources
i. Electricity
..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................
ii. Fossil fuels
..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
31
iii. Wood or charcoal
..............................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................... .......................
..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................
