EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ARID AND SEMI ARID LANDS (ASAL) POLICY ON DROUGHT RESILIENCE IN WAJIR COUNTY, KENYA
Abstract
The study sought to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of the ASAL policy on drought resilience in Wajir County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. It sampled 398 respondents drawn from a population of 127932 households in Wajir County. In addition, 20 key informants within the Wajir population were also purposively sampled. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using SPSS Ver.28. The researcher's exclusive focus was on academics; as such, they must act with the utmost professionalism and be mindful of the ethical concerns stated above. The insights of the Wajir people on the impact of drought management reflected the progress made in Drought Response Plans (DRP) and the effect on their livelihood. Hence, by carrying out this study, it was possible to determine the policy capacity of county Governments to successfully implement their various DRPs meant to cultivate drought resilience practices among communities in the county. The study established a coefficient of determination (R squared) of 0.626, implying that the combination of financial allocation, stakeholder engagement, and mitigation measures implementation accounted for 62.6% of the variation in drought resilience in Wajir County, Kenya. The adjusted R-squared of 0.614 further indicated that, in the exclusion of the constant variable, financial allocation, stakeholder engagement and mitigation measures implementation jointly explained 61.4% of the variation in drought resilience. The study also found a significant and positive relationship between financial allocation and drought resilience (β = 0.221, p = 0.005 < 0.05), the results showed that there existed a positive but statistically insignificant relationship between stakeholder engagement and drought resilience (β = 0.103, p = 0.244 > 0.05). Finally, the study found a significant and strong positive relationship between mitigation measures implementation and drought resilience (β = 0.483, p = 0.000 < 0.05). On the basis of the findings, the study concluded that the perceived inadequacy of funds directly affects the county's ability to enact critical drought resilience activities such as the development of water infrastructure, livestock programs, and community-based initiatives. The study also concluded that stakeholder engagement does exist in Wajir County, but is significantly skewed towards governmental bodies. The study thus recommended that the county government of Wajir should seek additional funding avenues, which should include grants, public-private partnerships, or aid from international organizations.
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