Vincent received his grant of £1,585 to carry out an evaluation of land use change and sediment yield using remote sensing and GIS in the Malewa river catchment, Naivasha, Kenya.
Vincent is currently studying for a Masters Degress in Agricultural Engineering (Soil &Water Engineering Option) at Egerton University, Kenya.
The need to quantify and predict sediment yield at water shed level has become important because of the increasing concerns on water quality and aquatic habitat. Models for sediment yield provide invaluable information when applied to those areas lacking data, for guiding data collection programs, and for predicting future impacts of agricultural activities, land-use, stream stabilisation, and flood control practices. The relevance of this study in poverty eradication is that it will add new knowledge concerning the problems of the catchment for decision making intervention to parties concerned. It will provide the catchment managers and stakeholders concerned with information relevant for justification of policies implementation which will provide supportive ways for communities living within the catchment to develop natural resources in a more sustainable way through proper soil conservation practices and management. This will better their agricultural activities, ensure sediment reduction into Lake Naivasha from the catchment which is speculated to lower fish yields and also is a centre of many activities (e.g., tourism, fishing, domestic and industrial water supply) which in turn go along way as a source of livelihood for the communities living within and around the catchment.
The long term benefits expected to arise from this study entails planning which will minimize the risks of future environmental problems and increase economic benefits for the community living around and within the catchment. By instituting the proper policies in place through planning and implementation, a new movement towards smart growth that addresses sustainable development, land use planning and water management issues will be ensured. Through this, standards for development and construction that address community values, distinctiveness, and sense of place can be set. Inclusive collaborative processes between communities and other stakeholders, ensuring that local communities have control over how they want to grow is also expected. Direct development towards existing local communities that are already served by infrastructure and utilize the resources that they have on offer will be instituted. Provision of integration of mixed land uses and provision of more choices in housing, shopping, communities, and transportation to the local people.
Developing a soil and water management plan that addresses land use impacts such as erosion, run-off, and sediment control. This is expected to focus on controlling sediment and minimizing point-source pollution as well as runoff and erosion. The soil and water management plan is expected to be approved and/or certified by a recognized environmental consultant and/or local governing body every two years. Development of an annual tree-planting event where staff, guests, and local children and women are encouraged to participate. This is to ensure reforestation to minimize the degradation of the catchment.
The change of Land use/cover for Malewa river catchment has increased substantially over the last three decades. This has had a considerable impact on the nature of the river flow discharge and related hydrological characteristics such as sediment yield. However, influence of land use/cover change on hydrological processes has not been effectively monitored for Malewa catchment. Sediments discharged into the Lake Naivasha from Malewa River pose a need of concern to the siltation of the lake which is speculated to have an affect on the lake ecosystem. Since consistent observation of sediment data is lacking, this study is important in the development of strategies for efficient and sustainable management of land and water resources in the catchment. With such strategies in place benefits from the natural resources can then be realized although most benefits in the natural resources management are long-term, intangible and not concrete. This act as a disincentive to communities and curtails interest in investing their effort. Because of the virtual availability of natural resources for ‘free’, i.e. forest, water and wildlife products, their management is often not a high priority in villages and communities’ development plans. This is a barrier in terms of attracting support related to communities based management programmes. In most development programmes, women, pastoralists and the poor have tended to be marginalized by the communities as they are in most cases not featuring in the decision making process. These stand to be losers when management strategies are designed. Support in organising such groups to constitute themselves and start up dialogue with other parties is imperative. This study seeks to highlight and bring focus on the benefits to the community living within this catchment.
