Factors Influencing Resource Use Behavior In Ewaso Narok Wetland, Kenya

Wetlands are areas permanently or seasonally flooded by water where plants and animals have become adapted over time. They provide critical ecosystem services and contribute to the national economy both directly and indirectly. The Ewaso Narok Wetland is an important ecosystem providing water, farming land and pasture for the livestock. Despite its importance, the wetland is threatened by human activities such as over-cultivation and overgrazing. Therefore, there is a need for sustainable management of the wetland in order to increase its contribution to livelihoods of the current and future generations. The objective of this study was to characterize the major wetland users, to assess the determinants of the individual rate of time preference and resource use behavior among the users. Stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select 99 pastoralists, 95 commercial and 106 small scale farmers in Ewaso Narok Wetland, Kenya. A questionnaire was used to collect household level data. Descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, one-way ANOVA with Tukey's HSD test were used to characterize the wetland users. Hyperbolic model was used in after the choice and matching tasks in calculating the individual rate of time preference while land use intensity index was used as a proxy for the resource use behaviour. Seemingly unrelated regression estimator (SURE) model was used to identify the factors influencing the individual rate of time preference and resource use behavior of the wetland users. Results show that the individual rate of time preference was influenced positively by the size of land area under crop, conflicts among the users, being a commercial farmer and the distance of a homestead to piped water. The resource use behavior was influenced positively by the individual rate of time preference, household size, the number of years of using the wetland and tropical livestock units and negatively by membership to credit lending groups, the level of education, and security of land tenure. The study concludes that the individual rate of time preference was the major contributor of the high intensity of land use and hence its determinants should be considered in sustainable management of the Ewaso Narok Wetland. Consequently, the study recommends that there should be a provision of title deeds to users in areas outside the wetland area to facilitate sustainable wetland use. Diversification into alternative income generating activities should be encouraged through groups and encourage infrastructural development like installation of piped water as an alternative source of resource to minimize dependency on the wetland.