Browsing by Author "RABURU, FABIAN AWUOR"

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    VEGETATION AND ADJACENT CULTIVATED AREAS: CASE OF KIPINI AND OZI LOCATIONS, TANA RIVER DELTA, KENYA
    (EGERTON UNIVERSITY, 2025-10) RABURU, FABIAN AWUOR
    Tana delta is a critical ecosystem providing multiple ecological and economic services and hosting several riparian vegetative mosaics. As a deltaic system, its’ ecological functions are influenced by the freshwater and sea water dynamics. The delta has arable land that supports the livelihoods of local communities through rice, banana farming and pastoralism. However, reduction in river water volume especially during dry season has resulted in movement of seawater upwards in the river channel and into low lying arable cultivated areas, negatively affecting Agriculture and Livelihoods in the area. This study assessed the extent of sea water intrusion and its effect on riparian soils, vegetation and adjacent cultivated areas in Kipini and Ozi locations. Land cover changes were assessed using Landsat, Aster and Sentinel satellite imageries acquired for the years between 1999 and 2021. Water physico-chemical parameters were measured insitu while soil physico-chemical parameters were analyzed at Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) laboratory in Gede, Malindi. To get the local farmers and administrators’ perspectives, nineteen key informants were interviewed in the two villages using an interview schedule. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Between the year 1999 and 2021, mangrove area increased by 10.8%, area under water (Tana river) by 2.7%, human occupied area increased from 11 ha to 20 ha, area under grassland and non-vegetated area reduced by 1.8% and 20% respectively. The mean pH in the mangrove sediment was 7.028±0.127, while adjacent cultivated soils, the pH was 6.608±0.133. Other mangrove soil parameters’ means were; Salinity (0.941±0.556 ‰), Nitrate-Nitrogen (3.127±1.107 ppm) and Phosphorus (106.818±68.317 ppm). The means of farmland soil parameters were; Salinity (0.491±0.071‰), Nitrate-Nitrogen (2.592±0.809 ppm) and Phosphorus (89.928±37.739 ppm). Water salinity (‰) decreased as one moved from the mouth of the delta significantly. Due to the recent El Nino rains that caused dilution of the saline levels, the existing water and saline conditions favored growth and development of crops and young mangrove seedlings. The key informant interviews indicate an increasing trend in frequency and extent of salt water intrusion where farmlands in Ozi village located approximately 9.7 km away from the mouth of the river have been affected, indicative of perhaps frequent droughts disrupting the local soil health, ecological conditions and livelihoods. The findings of this study can be used by the county and national government as a premise upon which to sensitize mixed cropping system and prescribe new varieties and technologies that are adaptive to the changing saline conditions in the future