Environmental Effects of Coping Strategies Employed by Small Scale Farmers to Mitigate for Rainfall Variability in Bunyala Sub-County, Kenya

Farmers in Bunyala sub-county depend on rain fed agriculture and over the years frequent floods and droughts, crop failures and water shortages have become common. Research has shown that small-scale farmers in the developing countries are more vulnerable to rainfall variability due to their high reliance on rainfed agriculture and poor coping capacity. However most studies so far have concentrated on climate-driven adaptive capacity in flood prone areas and arid and semi-arid areas and have not considered the effects on livelihoods and coping strategies to this climate driven changes, especially in areas with both floods and drought regimes like Bunyala sub-county. It is against this background that this study sought to examine the environmental effects of coping strategies employed by smallscale farmers to mitigate for rainfall variability in Bunyala sub-county, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to identify the environmental effects resulting from the coping strategies employed by small scale farmers in Bunyala sub-county to counter the effects of rainfall variability. Household survey, key informant interviews and focused group discussions was used to obtain data on coping strategies and the environmental effects of such coping strategies. The study used questionnaire, interviews, focus group discussion and field observation as data collection tools. Bunyala Sub-County has about 15,245 households in six locations. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select the required number of respondents. The stratification was based on the populations of six locations. A total of 384 households were randomly selected and sampled from the selected locations together with 11 key informants. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques were used while the results were presented in tables, figures and charts. Findings of the study indicate that strategies adopted occasionally tend to have negative impacts on the environment thereby compounding farmer’s problems further. The study recommends that coping practices must be promoted while simultaneously strengthening long-term, sustainable institutional responses to help households adapt to rainfall variations. There is need to promote livelihood diversification initiatives that enhance improved income generation at the same time ensuring they have minimal negative impacts on the environment