INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN KENYAS CONTEXT

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INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN
KENYAS CONTEXT

• Dr. Fredrick N. Muchena
• ETC-East Africa
• Nairobi, Kenya

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Background
• Land and Natural Resource Degradation
• Interactive Factors for Sustainable Land
  Management
• Indicators

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BACKGROUND

• Kenya relies heavily on its agricultural sector
  (contributes
• about 26 GDP)
• Of the total land area (576,000 km2), about 17
  (9.4
• million ha) is of high to medium rainfall and
  the remaining
• 83 (48 million ha) are arid and semi arid
  (ASAL).
• Population pressure leading to migration to
  ASALs and
• fragmentation of land into uneconomical
  parcels,
• cultivation of unsuitable land and
  encroachment of
• forests.
• Poverty (low income levels)

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Land and Natural Resource Degradation

• Land degradation is widespread in Kenya and
• manifests itself in multiple ways including
• Over-exploitation and
• poor use of the natural resource
• base
• Excessive soil erosion,
• gulling and increased sediment
• loading of water bodies
• Reduced ground cover and lower
• carrying capacity of
• pastures

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Land and Natural Resource Degradation

• Nutrient depletion due
• to burning of biomass,
• loss of nutrient bases
• through runoff and
• leaching

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• Continued loss and degradation of forest areas
  as well
• as clearing of farm forestry
• Reduced flows of water, drying up of water
  courses,
• worsening water quality
• Habitat loss and threats to biodiversity
• Loss of carbon sinks
• Increased damages from cycle of droughts and
  floods
• as well as increased degree and frequency of
  such
• extreme events
• Increased vulnerability and gradual reduction
  in
• incomes of rural families

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• There are multiple issues that underpin the trend
  of
• increasing land degradation in Kenya
• Inadequate investments in agriculture and weak
• extension systems
• Weakness of research programmes (targeting,
• applicability, cost effectiveness, demand
  drivenness
• etc) and lower attention to the use of
  indigenous
• knowledge
• Inappropriate and unsustainable agricultural
  practices
• such as cultivation on steep slopes, in
  marginal areas,
• poor irrigation practices leading to
  salinisation and
• sodicity etc.
• Low inherent soil fertility

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• Overgrazing, and loss/degradation of
  vegetation
• Untenable traditional land management
  practices
• such as fallowing to restore fertilitydue to
  high
• population density and fragmentation
• Inadequate land use management and protection
  in
• the catchment areas
• Unclear property rights implying lower
  investments in
• sound land and natural resources management
• Inadequate control over forest reserves
• Absence of alternate livelihood opportunities
• Increased demand for wood-fuel and charcoal and
• high prices for charcoal in active commercial
  market

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• Deficiencies in the policy framework including
  barriers
• to adoption of, and investment in, sustainable
  land
• management technologies
• Weaknesses in the legislative and legal
  framework, in
• particular lack of cross-sectoral coordination
  and land
• management (NRM is covered under 77 different
• statutes that are limited to a specific
  sectoral or
• functional focus)
• Absence of regular and accurate assessments and
• monitoring of natural resources

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• Insufficient mechanisms to address environmental
• externalities and lack of incentive structures
  to
• promote environmental management (such as,
• payments for environmental services and
• Social issues including inheritance and burial
  practices.

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Interactive Factors for Sustainable Land
Management
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Indicators

• No single approach can be used to monitor
• changes in degradation and land use
• There are many forms of degradation and hence
• different and multiple indicators are needed
• Monitoring of changes in degradation and land
  use
• presupposes some baseline data and threshold
  levels
• Monitoring to focus on response to degradation
  rather
• than degradation itself

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Soil and Land Resource base Related Indicators

• Effective rooting depth
• Soil loss reduction
• Sedimentation rate reduced
• Soil organic matter
• Change in soil structure
• (crusting and sealing)
• Nutrient balances
• Soil chemical fertility
• indices
• Changes in land vegetative cover (trends)

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Soil and Land Resource base Related Indicators

• Change in biodiversity (Flora and fauna)
• Acidification
• Salinisation
• Sodification
• Water pollution
• Decrease in water
• flows/drying of springs
• /perennial rivers

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Social/Human capital

• Number of households participating in
  sustainable land
• management (SLM) activities
• Number of households adopting alternative
  livelihood
• options
• Number and capacity of service providers
• Quality of service delivery

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Productive Economic System

• Crop yields (trends)
• Productivity index
• Example Productivity index for food crops in
  Mbeere (1980 100)

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Productive Economic System (ctd)

• Economic indicators (Income, Net farm income,
  poverty
• level)

Institutional aspects

• Number of functional institutions on SLM
• Quality of service delivery

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Enabling Policies

• Number of policies enacted and regulations
  formulated
• to address core issues of SLM
• Number of Policy studies and papers on SLM
  prepared
• and disseminated

Knowledge Information Technology

• Dissemination of available SLM
• technologies/Databases
• Adoption of new SLM technologies and sound
• indigenous knowledge (ITK) practices

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