| dc.description.abstract | Globally, an estimated 29% of people are faced with food insecurity due to the changing
climate which negatively impacts food crop production hence reducing the efforts of
Sustainable Development Goal Number 2,” End hunger” by 2030. Kenya, with 80% of
the land area being arid and Semi-arid, experiences frequent and persistent floods and
droughts respectively. In Siaya County an estimated 80% of farmers are involved in rain
fed subsistence growing of crops such as maize, sorghum, millet, beans, sweet potatoes
and cassava. However, agricultural production has negatively been impacted by the
changing climate leading to crop failure or low crop yield. The overall objective of the
study was to examine the influence of disaster risk management approaches on food crop
production under the changing climate in Siaya County. The specific objectives of the
study were; i) to establish the socio-economic characteristics which influence disaster
risk management approaches in Siaya County, ii) to determine the disaster risk
management approaches related to climate change in Siaya County, iii) to determine the
relationship between the climate trends and food crop production in Siaya County, iv) to
evaluate the effectiveness of disaster risk management approaches on food crop
production in Siaya County. The study used descriptive survey, correlational and
evaluation research designs. A sample size of 385 households was determined using
creative research system for the study where sampling techniques comprised of
Multistage and proportionate sampling for household respondents, purposive sampling
for Key informants and quota sampling for the Focus Group Discussions. Secondary data
were obtained from the publications, Journals, internet sources and newspapers. Daily
rainfall and temperature were sourced from the Kenya Meteorological Department
(KMD) and subjected to Mann-Kendall test for Temp. and rainfall trends; Standardized
Precipitation Index; statistical regression analysis and use of Rainbow Software. River
gauge data obtained from WRA was analyzed using river flow duration curve.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to correlate climate trends and crop
production; and also, to analyze quantitative data with the help of Statistical Package for
Social Scientist (SPSS) Version 20.0 for percentages, frequencies and level of
significance while narrative analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Findings show
that all the socio-economic characteristics influenced disaster risk management except
education with a correlation coefficient of 0.072, not statistically significant at 0.697, p >
0.05. Corrective disaster risk management approach was highly related to climate change
with a stronger positive relationship r = 0.95, significant at 0.001 p < 0.05. There is a
strong negative relationship between climate trends (drought) and food crops production
with a correlation coefficient of -0.540 significance at 0.05, p value = 0.05 while floods
and cumulative food crop production displayed a positive negligible relationship,
correlation coefficient of 0.507 though not significant at 0.164, p value > 0.05. Lastly,
findings show that the approaches are not effective in food crop production with a
statistical significance at 0.087 p > 0.05. The study concludes that the approaches
positively influence food crop production, however with low level of significance. There
is need for a concerted multi stakeholder approach to improve the DRM Approaches
effectiveness towards food crop production in Siaya County. The findings will help both
national and county governments in policy formulation in contribution to the SDG
number 2. | en_US |
