PERCEPTIONS REGARDING THE STATUS OF LIVELIHOODS; THE CASE OF THE COMMUNITY IN LOWER TANA DELTA CONSERVANCY, TANA RIVER COUNTY

Abstract

Protected areas (Conservancies) are amongst the most important conservation initiatives that help to halt biodiversity loss. There have been conflicts among the different communities that cohabit in the three locations of the study area (Ozi, Chara and Konemansa) in the Lower Tana Delta Conservancy (LTDC). It is not clear whether these conflicts among the different communities living in the locations are linked to their perceptions towards the conservancy as a source of community livelihoods. Thus the study hypothesis was that the different communities living in the Conservancy may have different perceptions under Linkert scale towards institutional governance, rangeland management and conservancy contribution on specific aspects of community development (education, market access, peaceful coexistence and increased incomes) in Tana River County. Thus education in the study was considered as a means of livelihood improvements. The overall aim of this study was to determine perceptions among the local community towards LTDC as a resource with benefits towards community livelihood improvements in Tana River County. The study was conducted through a randomized study design using semi-structured questionnaire, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs). The research was conducted between December 2015 and February 2016. Inferential statistics (Chi-square) in R were used to analyze the categorical data. The results showed that there were significant differences among the age groups in Chara, Ozi and Konemansa (p < 0.05). Additionally, there were significant differences on their perceptions on LTDC contribution to education (p < 0.05), and institutional governance (p < 0.05), the contribution of the LTDC board of management (p < 0.05), investment Sub-committee (p < 0.05), peace sub-committee (p < 0.05), respectively. Additionally, there were significant differences on the perception of the contribution of tourism Sub-Committee (p < 0.05), contribution of improved rangeland vi management (p < 0.05), human-wildlife conflict before the conservancy (p < 0.05), human-wildlife conflict after the establishment of the conservancy (p < 0.05), as well as significant differences on perception towards grazing sub-committee (p < 0.05). Moreover, there were significant differences on perceptions on the benefits of the conservancy to the community (p < 0.05), the contribution to education (p < 0.05) the contribution of conservancy to peaceful coexistence (p < 0.05), and on increased income from the conservancy (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences on the participants’ perceptions on the contribution of the Conservancy to market access of their products (p > 0.05). Overall the results showed differential perceptions on contributions of LTDC towards livelihood improvements of local communities in Tana River County and suggest that the establishment of the conservancy as a resource has had accrued benefits to different communities living in the three locations of Chara, Ozi and Konemansa. It would be interesting to carry out similar work on other conservancies established within the County (and elsewhere in the coast) to assess their contributions towards livelihoods im