Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Kenora area'

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been suggested as one of the solutions to coral reef fisheries management. It is thought that their effects on biomass, species diversity and habitat could improve surrounding fisheries yields through fish migration and increased recruitment. However, MPAs' benefits on surrounding fisheries are difficult to establish due to the lack of historical data. Furthermore, the lack of involvement of stakeholders have led to a number of failures. MPAs in the form of No Take Zones (NTZ), which aim to promote the sustainable use of fisheries resources, might contribute to the successful management of coral reef fisheries. However, few studies have considered their benefits from the point of view of surrounding fishing communities. It is evident that if stakeholders are to be further involved in MPA management, they need to perceive the benefits. The hypothesis tested was that if NTZs are of benefit to surrounding communities, their food security situation would be improved. The fieldwork was carried out in Southern Kenya with five fishing communities located around a long established MPA. The study showed that a range of food security indicators gave good information on MPAs' benefits to the surrounding communities. It was found that these benefits were highly affected by distances. Thus, although fishing households were the least food secure, they were better off if they fished nearer the protected reefs. Households dependent on MPA-related tourism were the most food secure but this dependency decreased with the communities' distance from the main tour operators. The results showed that MPAs' benefits were not equally shared by the communities bearing most of the costs. In addition, it was also found that tourism seasonality does not always compensate for the seasonality of other activities. Furthermore, tourism could not be assumed to develop around MPAs and provide reliable alternative employment.

This study aimed to examine the perceptions of two local communities living adjacent to Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve (MMNP&R) and Kuruwitu community closure (tengefu) in Kenya regarding the benefits and impacts of the MPA on their livelihoods. A secondary aim was to compare the perceptions of these two communities in relation to the MPA management models employed at the two study sites. The research employed a case study approach and undertook focus group meetings and key informant interviews at each case study site and with relevant organisations. Key findings from the research revealed that both sites experienced diversification of livelihoods, however the diversification was for different reasons. The Bamburi community members stated that the park generated benefits such as new forms of employment linked to tourism, beach security, increased variety of corals and fish species as well as improved infrastructure. The Kuruwitu community perceived the closure to have resulted in various benefits but in particular social benefits, such as women empowerment, ownership of resources, co-existence among resource users and community exchange visits were highlighted. However, both cases also identified various negative impacts including tensions due to an increase in migrant fishers, illegal access and poaching and the use of unsustainable gear. Furthermore, the direct resource users (fishers) in both case study sites felt that their fishing grounds had been drastically reduced due to the establishment of the park and tengefu which negatively affected their fish catches and livelihoods, leading to decreased support for the conservation initiatives. Therefore, the fishers in both study sites were more negative about the protected areas compared to the other resource users. Kuruwitu, in particular, identified perceived fear of the loss of their marine area to privatisation, inequitable sharing of benefits by their leadership group and limited involvement of women in decision- making as primary negative concerns. On the other hand, concerns about minimal involvement in management decisions during and after park inception were expressed by participants at the Bamburi study site. In addition, the lack of transparency in the management and use of revenue derived from the state- run MMNP&R further aggravated tensions between the state and the adjacent communities as well as severe penalties set for transgressions on locals by marine park authorities at MMNP&R. With the introduction of co-management through the Beach Management Units (BMUs) in Kenya in the year 2007, it was expected that stakeholder participation would be increased, however, the Bamburi community lamented over lack of proper representation within the BMUs which they claimed gave outsiders more power. While both communities, especially Kuruwitu identified a number of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that aided in fulfilling the community’s socio- economic and ecological objectives, they were much more central to achieving socio-ecological objectives at Kuruwitu than at Bamburi. These NGOs and other stakeholders, however, became much more engaged at MMNP&R after the inception of the BMUs. Based on the findings, it was evident that the community- based co-management conservation approach at Kuruwitu generated more social benefits to the community than the state-centred co- managed conservation approach at MMNP&R. Loss of access to traditional fishing grounds, perceived loss of benefits and increased social costs triggered illegal access into the state park, therefore, fuelling conflicts and exacerbating tensions between the community and the state as well as tensions between various management institutions regarding overlapping mandates. Implementing genuine co-management approaches are key to fostering inclusivity, accountability, legitimacy and support for marine conservation initiatives.

A comparative study of the breeding ecology and behaviour of the augur buzzard Buteo augur was made between 1995 and 1998 in the southern Lake Naivasha area, Kenya. Populations in Hell's Gate National Park (Hell's Gate) a protected area, and two other locations (both modified by humans) within the Lake Naivasha environs - Mundui and Sulmac-Oserian were compared. The main aspects studied were nesting density, nest-site selection, breeding behaviour, diet, hunting success, prey availability, breeding seasonality and breeding performance. The methods used were nest searches, augur buzzard ringing, nest and foraging observations, pellet and prey remains collection and analyses, transect counts to determine prey availability, nest site habitat data collection and recording the outcome of active nests. Mundui had the highest density of augur buzzards at 0.83 pairs per km2 compared to Hell's Gate (0.28 pairs per km2) and Sulmac-Oserian (0.23 pairs per km2). Augur buzzard pairs were more widely spaced in areas where human impacts had increased. Augur buzzards nested mainly in cliffs (in Hell's Gate) or trees (partly in Hell's Gate, exclusively elsewhere). In Numdui and Sulmac, augur buzzards selected mature, large canopied Acacia xanthophloea as nest trees while in Hell's Gate and Oserian, mature Euphorbia magnicapsular trees that grew on the steepest slopes were selected. Augur buzzard pairs in the lake environs spent more time caring for chicks than their counterparts in Hell's Gate. This was shown by increased maternal care and paternal foraging which resulted in larger broods and more prey deliveries to nests respectively. The factors responsible for these were an abundant food supply coupled with reduced predation pressure and inter/intra-specific interactions. Augur buzzards in Hell's Gate exploited a broader range of prey, while those in the lake environs specialised on rodents, particularly mole-rats.

En av de viktigaste frågorna i världen idag är naturresurshantering. Med en väx-ande befolkning och hoten från klimatförändringar kommer förvaltningen av jordens naturresurser bli än viktigare, såväl för dagens generation som kommande generationer. En viktig aspekt när det gäller naturresurshantering är hur människor uppfattar och värderar naturen. För att komma närmare dessa miljövärden har ett flertal olika vetenskapliga tillvägagångssätt föreslagits. Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur det är möjligt att närma sig miljövärden under olika omständighe-ter och utifrån olika behov. Detta görs genom att undersöka hur olika teorier har använts, och kan användas, avseende olika våtmarker i Kenya. I utvecklingslän-der har naturresurser, teoretiskt sett, ett högre värde eftersom fattiga människor till en högre grad är direkt beroende av naturresurser och ekosystemtjänster. Ut-gångspunkten i denna avhandling är sex våtmarksområden i Kenya under olika förvaltning och med ett flertal, både aktuella och potentiella, användare. I av-handlingen undersöks hur lokalsamhället, myndigheter, industrier och turister uppfattar och värderar våtmarkerna. Genom att applicera ett arenaperspektiv, som betonar vikten av tvärvetenskap, diskuteras i avhandlingen det ekonomiska värdet av miljön för att sedan applicera andra metoder såsom emergy analys, stakeholder analys, kulturteori och riskanalys för att bredda och berika värderingen av miljön.
One of the most important issues in the world, both for present and future genera-tions, concerns natural resource management. With a growing global population and the threat of climate change, issues relating to natural resource management will grow in importance with time. One fundamental aspect of natural resource management is how people perceive and value the environment. The value that is ascribed to natural resources will be one of the determinants in the choices that people face in regards to their management. A wide range of approaches have been suggested to approach environmental values. This thesis focuses on analys-ing the assessment of environmental values under different circumstances and needs. This is done by exploring the ways various theories have and can be used to approach natural resource valuation in different wetland management situations in Kenya. In the developing world the value of natural resources can, theoreti-cally, be seen as even higher than in the developed world, due to poor peoples’ direct dependency on their natural resources and the ecosystem services and goods that they provide. The point of departure in this thesis is six wetland areas with different management strategies and with multiple users. It examines how local communities, governmental authorities, industries and tourists perceive the value of the wetlands. By applying an arena perspective, that emphasises the need of interdisciplinarity, this thesis discusses the economic value of the environment and applies other methods such as, emergy analysis, stakeholder analysis, cultural theory and risk analysis, to enrich the valuation of environment.

Climate change and the related social and economic challenges present society with problems at multiple levels. There is a diverse range of actors who are contributing to climate change governance, including those who are going to be affected by the impacts. In areas of limited statehood were states have varying degrees of deficits in their abilities to steer effective climate change mitigation and adaptation, private actors such as business organisations are expected to step in. This research set to investigate how and why companies in South Africa and Kenya contribute to climate change governance. South Africa and Kenya are selected because they represent areas which have varying levels of limited statehood. The results from the content analysis and the case studies reveal that companies’ climate change governance contributions can be characterised into four configurations: laggards, emergent planners, efficiency drivers and visionaries. The laggards display very limited responses and if anything adopt cosmetic initiatives. The majority of Kenyan and South African firms are in this cluster. Emergent planners are in the early stages of implementing self-regulatory initiatives mostly at the firm level. The efficiency drivers which consist of mostly energy intensive companies engage in co-regulation which involves partnering with the state to set and implement rules in energy efficiency accords in both countries. The firms, in turn, self-regulate themselves by internally implementing the energy efficiency accord guidelines. The final configurations, the visionaries, make more comprehensive mitigation and adaptation governance contributions focusing on collective self-regulation and adopting the role of the “inspector” along their supply chain. On the basis of these empirical findings, the research identifies different ways in which the institutional, organisational and issue specific drivers interact to explain the variations in firms’ governance contributions between countries, sectors and different companies. First, corporate climate change governance contributions vary between South Africa and Kenya as a result of the countries’ different levels of statehood. South African firms are more responsive to climate change than Kenyan companies because they are more exposed to the shadow of hierarchy. Statehood is a significant factor in the context of possible alternative explanations. Second, the climate change governance contributions vary between sectors due to the combined effect of the shadow of anarchy and the task complexity associated with securing energy or water supply among “high salience” sectors. Furthermore, carbon intensive sectors have strong associations which enable them to address collective problems linked to climate change. Lastly, there are significant levels of variance in the governance contributions between the different types of companies, that is, between large, multinational companies and smaller, domestic firms. The large firms engage in more comprehensive mitigation and adaptation efforts due to organisational factors which include “asset specificity” and organisational resources.

In this master thesis, I have studied conflicts that have arisen because of a development project, in a wetland in the Lake Victoria region in Kenya. The aim of the project is to improve the standards of living for the local community by increased food production and employment, but it has developed into a conflict because of, among other things, competition over natural resources. The objective of this study is to analyse these conflicts and identify the causes behind them. A further aim is to analyse if the communication has been sufficient in Yala Swamp, from the stakeholders’ point of view, through out the implementation of the project. The stakeholders that were identified in the conflict are the local community that have been affected by the project, the county councils where the project is located, and the company Dominion, which is the exploiter. Conflict theory is the analytical tool used to identify causes to the conflict. Primary data was collected through qualitative research interviews and secondary data are various reports. The result of the conflict analysis shows that there is a conflict between the local community on one side, and Dominion and the county councils on the other side. The conflict is caused by incompatible goals. The goals that are incompatible, which depend on contested resources, have to the largest extent to do with land access and to some extent with employment. The reason for contested resources has its origin in that the local community feel they have been deprived the land they used to farm on and have not gained what they were promised. They also live in absolute poverty and therefore whish to have more land than they have now. Conflicts over land leads to environmental degradation when people are squeezed into limited areas and put more pressure on land. This issue needs immediate attention to not lead to violent conflicts and further environmental degradation. Foremost the local community is dissatisfied with how the communication between the stakeholders worked before the implementation of the development project and after. A committee was going to be set, but today it does not seem to work adequately from the community members’ point of view. A committee would, however, probably improve the communication and resolve some conflicts. This would reduce the conflict potential and lead to a more sustainable development for all stakeholders.

Cette thèse est sur l’historique et contemporain, social, politique et économique des forces, qui ont conduit à la (re) production et (re) construction d’injustice spatiale, de la consommation des espaces verts publics socialement valorisées urbaines à Nairobi. À l’aide d’un cadre de l’écologie politique urbaine (EPU), l’étude examine les forces structurant et les acteurs qui ont déterminé et continuent à la forme, les caractéristiques et les tendances, d’utilisation et accès, de la nature urbaine se réserve dans la ville. La question de recherche central de l’étude est, quels sont les processus sociaux, politiques et économiques passés et présents qui déterminent l’utilisation et l’accès des espaces verts urbains pour différents groupes sociaux à Nairobi? L’étude a été guidée par trois objectifs principaux : (1) d’enquêter sur le contexte historique, dynamique, sociale, politique et économique, impliqué dans les espaces verts urbains de création à Nairobi ; (2) afin d’étudier les politiques passées et présentes et des législations guidant l’utilisation, gestion et conservation de l’urbain protégé des zones, ainsi que les résultats des législations pour différents groupes sociaux et (3) d’examiner les résultats sociaux des interventions de l’acteur non étatique, dans la conservation et la gestion des aires protégées urbaines, sur l’utilisation et l’accès des espaces verts urbains publics, pour différents groupes sociaux. L’approche méthodologique utilisée était l’histoire de l’environnement et de la construction sociale de la nature. L’étude a recueilli des données qualitatives et analyse les informations à l’aide d’un style d’analyse critique du discours. Le premier argument que rend la thèse est que les inégalités sociales et spatiales dans l’utilisation et l’accès nos espaces verts urbains à Nairobi se fonde sur l’histoire urbaine de la ville coloniale, fondée par les impérialistes britanniques et mis au point à l’aide de la ségrégation raciale institutionnalisée, comme la principale stratégie de planification et de gestion urbaine. Basé sur un examen critique des résultats sociaux, des politiques et législations dans la période postcoloniale, je fais le deuxième argument que les gouvernements post indépendantes et moyens, a continué à reproduire injuste nos espaces verts urbains, en omettant de traiter l’oppression et l’autocratie, construit dans les forces structurantes et les institutions, hérités de l’administration coloniale. Par conséquent, pendant une longue période après l’indépendance, autre désenchantement des groupes sociaux vulnérables et marginalisés ont continué, limitant leur utilisation équitable et l’accès des ressources naturelles socialement valorisées. Le discours de l’époque est qu’ouverture aux acteurs non étatiques, augmentera les possibilités pour les groupes sociaux marginalisés et vulnérables, soient habilitées à prendre des décisions sur la gestion et l’utilisation durable des ressources. On croit que cela permettra aux collectivités de durablement pour utiliser et accéder aux ressources naturelles, réduire la pauvreté, améliorer les moyens de subsistance, prestation de services et améliorer la conservation et gestion. Ainsi, environ de la dernière décennie un, indépendant des gouvernements ont modifié leurs politiques, par l’ouverture à la participation du public dans la gestion et la conservation de la nature urbaine se réserve notamment dans la ville. Ces changements dans la politique font partie des déplacements plus loin le gouvernement de l’État centré, vers une autonomisation locale, conformément à la Constitution du Kenya a récemment promulgué (CoK) 2010. L’idée maîtresse de la thèse vient ici, où j’ai une question l’affirmation que la participation citoyenne permettra d’améliorer la justice sociale et spatiale
This thesis is about the historical and contemporary social, political and economic forces, that have led to the (re)production and (re)construction of spatial injustice, in the consumption of socially valued public urban green spaces in Nairobi. Using an Urban Political Ecology (UPE) framework, the study investigates the structuring forces and actors that have determined and continue to shape, patterns and trends, of use and access, of urban nature reserves in the city. The central research question of the study is, what are the past and present social, political and economic processes that determine use and access of urban greenspaces for different social user groups in Nairobi? The study was guided by three main objectives: (1) To investigate the historical context, that is, social, political and economic dynamics, involved in the creation urban greenspaces in Nairobi; (2) To investigate the past and present, policies and legislations guiding the use, management and conservation of the urban protected areas, as well as the outcomes of the legislations for different social user groups and (3) To examine the social outcomes of non-state actor’s interventions, in the conservation and management of urban protected areas, on use and access of public urban green spaces, for different social user groups. The methodological approach used was environmental history and the social construction of nature. The study collected qualitative data and analysed the information using a critical discourse analysis style. The first argument the thesis makes is that social and spatial inequalities in use and access urban greenspaces in Nairobi is grounded on the city’s colonial urban history, as founded by the British imperialists and developed using institutionalised racial segregation, as the main strategy for urban planning and management. Based on a critical review of the social outcomes, of policies and legislations in the post-colonial period, I make the second argument that the early and middle post-independent governments, continued to reproduce unjust urban greenspaces, by failing to address the oppression and autocracy, built in the structuring forces and institutions, inherited from the colonial government. Therefore, for a long time after independence, further disenfranchisement of vulnerable and marginalised social groups continued, limiting their equitable use and access of socially valued natural resources. The contemporary discourse is that opening up to non-state actors, will increase opportunities for the marginalised and vulnerable social groups, to be empowered in making decisions on sustainable resource use and management. It is believed that this will enable communities to sustainably use and access natural resources, reduce poverty, improve livelihoods, service delivery and enhance conservation and management. Thus, approximately for the past one decade, the post-independent governments have changed their policies, by opening up to public participation in management and conservation of urban nature reserves including in the city. These changes in policy are part of the wider shifts away from the state centred government, towards local empowerment, in line with the recently promulgated Constitution of Kenya (CoK) 2010. The main thrust of the thesis comes here, where I question the assertion that citizen participation will enhance social and spatial justice. Therefore, a larger part of the thesis investigates the social outcomes of interventions by non-state actors in management and conservation of the urban nature reserves, on different social user groups

Choosing to Run: A History of Athletics and Gender in Kenya, c. 1940s – 1980s explores the history of gender and athletics in Kenya, with focus on the Rift Valley Province, from the onset of late colonial rule in the 1940s through the professionalisation of the sport during the last decades of the twentieth century. The first two empirical chapters provide a history of athletics during the colonial period. The first highlights the continuity of ideas about sport and masculinity that were developed in nineteenth century Britain and were subsequently perpetuated by the men in charge of colonial sport in Kenya. The next chapter considers how pre-colonial divisions of labour and power within Rift Valley communities informed local peoples' cultures of running. The absence of women’s running was not only the result of sexism translated from the British metropole to its Kenyan colony but also of pre-existing divisions of responsibilities of indigenous Kenyan men and women into separate, gendered domains. The second half of the thesis considers the impact of social change within women’s athletics internationally and of marriage, childbirth and education locally on female runners in the Rift Valley during the post-colonial period. Most women abandoned athletics once they reached maturity. Those who sought to do otherwise, as the final chapter argues, found that they could only do so by replicating the prototype of masculine runners that had already been established. Later, after the professionalisation of running allowed women to become wealthy, female patrons took this a step further by providing resources to those in their community in need, setting themselves up as 'Big (Wo)men'. This thesis uses athletics to reveal how gender relations and gender norms have evolved and the benefits and challenges that the sport has brought both to individual Kenyan women and their communities.

Childhood undernutrition remains a public health problem in slums in Nairobi, yet little is known about current childcare practices, particularly child eating and maternal feeding behavior and their impact on child growth. Treatment options for malnutrition in this setting involve the use of sweet, high energy ready to use foods (RUF), which have the potential to displace home foods, but few studies have assessed this. This thesis therefore aimed to quantify high-risk caring practices in children aged 6-24 months and how these vary with nutrition status. The effects of RUF on meal frequency and eating and feeding behavior were also assessed. The programme of research was underpinned by the following research questions: • What are the commonest modifiable risk factors for undernutrition found in children and how does this pattern vary with nutrition status? • Do ready to use foods displace complementary foods in moderately undernourished children? • Do ready to use foods affect eating and feeding behaviour? Preliminary studies were carried out to test the feasibility of using observations to assess childcare practices. Caregivers of children aged between 6 and 24 months were recruited in Wagha town, a semi urban area in Lahore, Pakistan and in selected slums in Nairobi, Kenya. A structured observation guide was used to collect information on caregiver child interactions during mid-morning meals in Pakistan and lunch time meals in Kenya. A description of childcare practices in the household, specifically dietary practices, feeding behaviour and hygiene practices were assessed by asking the following questions: Who feeds the child? How is the child fed? What is the child fed and how often? What are the hygiene practices of caregivers? Thirty meal observations, 11 in Pakistan and 19 in Kenya, were carried out in homes, while 11 meals were observed in day-care centres in Nairobi. Eating and feeding behaviours varied between cultures. Compared to caregivers in Kenya, caregivers in Pakistan offered more encouragement during meals. In Kenya, encouragement was mainly in response to food refusal and undernourished children were more likely to show aversive eating behaviour. Caregivers would respond to this behaviour by either restraining the child or simply leaving them alone. In day-care centres, laissez faire feeding was common as children were left to feed themselves with little or no assistance. Poor hygiene practices were also common, especially in Kenya where caregivers did not wash their hands before feeding their children. Meal observations were not representative as only one meal could be observed and they were also not practical because of insecurity in the slums. Based on these findings, a cross sectional study carried out in seven health facilities was designed. Caregivers of children aged 6-24 months were recruited from health facilities in two stages. In the first stage, undernourished children (weight for age or weight for length below - 2 Z scores or length for age below -3 Z scores) were quota sampled either from outpatient therapeutic or supplementary feeding programs based on severity and supplementation status between February and August 2015. Undernourished children were recruited from well-baby clinics during growth monitoring. Between July and August 2016 healthy children (weight for age above-2 Z scores) were also recruited from well-baby clinics at the same health facilities. For both groups, child anthropometric measurements were taken and information on sociodemographic, hygiene breastfeeding frequency, meal frequency, dietary diversity, child eating and caregiver feeding behaviour collected using a structured interview guide. Among children receiving ready to use foods, information on child interest in food, food refusal and caregiver force-feeding was also collected for both family meals and ready to use food meals. We recruited 415 children (54.5% female), over half (58.6%) of whom were undernourished. Caregivers and their children came from disadvantaged backgrounds characterized by low parental education. They also lacked access to basic hygiene and sanitation facilities. There was no association between nutrition status and hygiene as nearly all children came from households that lacked piped water (83.6%) and shared toilets (82.9%). Compared to healthy children, undernourished children were more likely not to be breastfeeding (undernourished 11.5%; healthy 5.2% P=0.002) and to receive plated meals at a low frequency (undernourished 12.2%; healthy 26.2% P=0.002). Diets offered were mainly carbohydrate based and there was no association between dietary diversity and nutrition status. Close to one third of children showed low interest in food 25.8% (107) and high food refusal 22.5% (93). Force-feeding was also relatively common 38.5% (155). Compared to healthy children, undernourished children were more likely to show low interest in food (undernourished 34.2%; healthy 14.0% P < 0.001) and high food refusal (undernourished 30.9%; healthy 10.5% P < 0.001); and their mothers were more likely to be anxious about feeding them (undernourished 20.6%; healthy 6.4% P < 0.001). Within the undernourished group, 49.4% had either low interest in food or high food refusal or both. Force-feeding was common in both groups, with a non-significant trend towards more force-feeding in the undernourished infants (undernourished 41.4%; healthy 34.5% P=0.087). Children were more likely to be force-fed if they had low interest in food (odds ratio[95% CI] 3.72 [1.93 to 7.15] P < 0.001) or high food refusal (4.83[2.38 to 9.78] P < 0.001), after controlling for maternal anxiety and child nutrition status. Children appeared to prefer RUF to home foods which is good for treatment compliance, but it may have a negative impact on intake of home foods. Although a single sachet of RUF appeared not to displace family meals in moderately undernourished children, actual energy intake was not measured in this study and these findings are therefore inconclusive. Children in slum areas in Nairobi are exposed to many risk factors which puts them at risk of infection and undernutrition and provision of ready to use foods as a treatment option does not address the underlying problem. There is therefore a need for poverty alleviation strategies which will lead to improved access to hygiene facilities and better environmental conditions. Measures to improve access and utilization of safe nutritious foods as well as mother-child interactions during meals are also required. A better understanding of child care practices and underlying factors that influence them is also required for the design of effective and sustainable interventions in this setting.

The United States of America is one of the most powerful countries in the world and their broadcasting system has become a role model to the rest of the world. Since the US charge less for their media products in third world countries, it is cheaper even for poor countries to import American content than to purchase local products. The aim with our survey is to explore whether heavy consumers of American television programs in Kenya hold positive attitudes to the American lifestyle and experience feelings of relative deprivation as a result of this consumption. Comparisons are made between students in an urban and a rural area.

The theoretical framework for this study includes cultivation theory which investigates the effects of the values and behaviors of the television audience. It also includes relative deprivation, which is based on the assumption that people experience deprivation when they compare themselves with others – so called reference groups. In our case the reference group is the American lifestyle. A third theory used for this study is cultural imperialism which says that dominating, mainly western media corporations impose their cultural values on third world countries, as in this case, Kenya.

In this study we are using a quantitative survey based on questionnaires handed out to Kenyan students at two different universities, one in a rural and one in an urban part of Kenya.

Television is an important part of everyday life for Kenyan students and they consume more than we had predicted. We concluded that the respondents in our study generally have negative attitudes to their life and their country, but a more positive impression of life in the US. Relating these findings to the television consumption of the respondents, the students that watch American programs the most are students at the university in the urban area, and they are more positively disposed to Kenya, but more negative to the US, compared to the Egerton students in the rural area that generally do not favor American programs. These results do not support the theories chosen for this study. Based on our results, our conclusion is that the attitudes held by the USIU students do not originate from television consumption, but do most likely depend on other influences.

The study investigates the provision of legal information to the legal community in three areas of Kenya, namely, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nairobi. It endeavours to ascertain whether the provision of information in the areas studied is adequate to meet the growing and varying needs of members of the legal community. Data was collected by use of semi-structured interviews and structured observation. Information was collected from members of the legal community in their capacity as users of information, and librarians in their official capacity as providers of information. The study examines the performance of legal information services in the context of user needs and current library and information service provision. It investigates the information needs and information seeking habits of the legal profession, and examines the problems experienced by users and providers of information. The research concludes that the provision of legal information is inadequate to meet the needs of the legal profession. The major causes of this situation are inadequate funding from government, and the negative attitude of decision makers in government ministries and organisations towards libraries. It is observed that if this situation is not addressed, it is likely to have a negative effect on legal development.

Coral reef ecosystems are some of the most biologically diverse systems in the world, and provide a number of ecosystem services that humans depend on for their wellbeing. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a social-ecological intervention that while conserving these ecosystems, also have significant impacts on the communities that depend on them for their wellbeing. Community-based MPAs are growing in popularity with the assumption that by putting communities at the forefront of their planning and management, more participation will occur, ensuring positive social and ecological impacts. This study, through mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, examines two community-based MPAs in coastal Kenya (called tengefus) to understand how each tengefu was incepted, and how resource users perceive the impacts of the tengefu on ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Participation in and donor support for the tengefu were found to influence how resource users perceived impacts. Individuals who were more engaged in the project or held some type of leadership position perceived more positive impacts on ecosystem services and human wellbeing compared to those not involved. In the two cases, tangible benefits (e.g. fisheries spillover and ecotourism) from the marine enclosure itself are too few to benefit the community as a whole. For tengefus to be social successes, more attention should be given to engaging all resource-dependent community members in their planning, implementation and management, and to understanding the multifaceted role of donor funding in supporting these initiatives.

The literature on Human Resettlement and the socio-economic adjustment processes involved has been reviewed with special reference to planned and unplanned relocation and how models of social change apply to them. As a result of the findings of this study the investigator has concluded it by developing a unique 5-Step Socio-Economic Chan2e Model based on the unplanned involuntary relocation of agro-pastoralists within the semi-arid areas of Kenya. A study of the Kenyan resettlement at Muuni was carried out over two growing seasons in 1997/98. Detailed information on the social structure prevailing and of the social and economic practices was gathered. This information was supplemented by data recorded on the agricultural activities of a sample of 30 fanning households, each having 10 acres of land. This information was supplemented by data on rainfall and soil type. Income from non-farming activities was also gathered. Data has been summarised and analysed and results discussed in the light of previous findings. Among the principal findings were: • That the role livestock production plays in socio-economic processes of change in semi-arid areas of Malcueni District became secondary or even tertiary following change of land tenureship by relocating agro-pastoralists from areas of communal use of forage and water resources to small-scale private land holding areas. • That failure to plan the involuntary relocation of the approx. 1000 households involved had placed them in difficult circumstances. • Hardship was the result due to failing to appreciate the inadequate potential of the limited private areas allocated and/or to provide a sufficient water supply in the resettlement scheme. • That failure to plan for suitable livestock disease control measures, medical care and education in the area imposed additional burdens on the people. • That the people proved capable of alleviating their conditions and meeting short-term needs by undertaking a range of non-farming activities and by collaborating at critical times in the farming and other social cycles. • That the delayed issuance of land title deeds to the farming households placed the families in an inequitable position and restricted their right of free movement.

The goals of conserving nature have changed over the last decades, but setting aside areas for nature protection is still a major part of environmental efforts globally. Protected areas often include indigenous and local communities' territories, and although indigenous rights have been strengthened through international policies and laws, conflicts over land entitlement are still common. A couple of notable events internationally in the context of Human Rights and nature conservation discourses have marked a significant shift in the attitudes and approaches to the role of indigenous people and local communities in natural resource governance. Contemporary approaches enable them to define themselves and to own and manage land and natural resources. Domestic policy makers are faced with the challenge of creating national laws and policies to implement this contemporary approach. This thesis looks at the concept of ICCAs as a tool for facilitating participation of indigenous and local communities in natural resource management. It begins with an analysis of the form, nature, origins and value of ICCA's- and specifically key legal elements which should ideally be included in a legal framework to give domestic effect to them. This analysis indicates that in order to recognise and protect the indigenous people and local communities and for ICCAs to be a success, their land tenures and resource rights have to be legally secured, they have to be deliberately involved in management of natural resources and they have to enjoy the benefits that arise as a result of their input and use their traditional knowledge to protect and conserve natural resources. The dissertation then turns to consider whether these elements are present in Kenya's legal framework. 2010 is used as a benchmark because of the significant reform introduced giving an edge in the way indigenous people and local communities and their contribution to natural resource management were recognised.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Earth Science)
My Thesis aimed at expanding the current knowledge on how variations of temperature characteristics including the possible existence of urban heat islands (UHI) over urban areas of Kenya could be influencing rainfall characteristics, and to examine if the stationary extreme value distributionis still suitable for modeling urban storm designs in view of the global climate change. My hypothesis was that the floodingoccurring frequently in major urban areas of Kenya are due to increased rainfall caused by global climate change, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. To put this perception into perspective, temperature and rainfall characteristics and their inter-relationships, of four of the major urban areas in Kenya namely, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru, were investigated. I obtained data from meteorological stations in and around each urban area, which had at least thirty (30) years of continuous monthly (or daily) temperatures and rainfall values, from the Kenya Meteorological Department. I checked the datasets for quality and missing values and adjusted where necessary before commencing with analysis. I sourced other supporting global dataset from various websites' data banks.I used various methods of data analysis which included; i) exploratory data analysis techniques such as the continuous wavelet transform (CWT), geographical information system (GIS) maps, and visual time series plots. In particular and unique in my Thesis was the use of the CWT method as a diagnostic tool to examine non-stationaritiesand variability of temperature and rainfall time series.

Land degradation is occurring in all parts of the terrestrial world, and is negatively impacting the well-being of billions of people. In recognition of the need for sustained global action on land degradation, the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the global community in 2015, include a specific goal aimed at halting the decline of land resources and achieving land degradation-neutrality (LDN) by 2030. The primary objective of this doctoral research was to operationalise the LDN target at the national level, using Kenya as the case study. The main research questions addressed in this dissertation have been positioned within a social-ecological systems framework in which ecosystems are integrated with human society. The first task of this research focused on determining the extent of land degradation and regeneration, and in establishing the LDN national baseline using the three LDN indicators (land cover, land productivity, and carbon stocks). This was then followed by identifying the key drivers that affect land degradation (browning) and land regeneration (greening) trends within the 4 main land cover types (agriculture, forest, grassland and shrubland), and within an area characterised by land cover change. The third task involved an assessment of the effectiveness of the current land-use policy framework, and associated institutions, to facilitate the implementation of LDN. Finally, in the last part of this dissertation, a climate-smart landscape approach at the water catchment level was proposed as a possible mechanism through which LDN can be operationalised at the sub-national level; Metodologia espacialmente explicita para a avaliação e monitorização da neutralidade da degradação do solo à escala nacional RESUMO: A degradação do solo é um fenómeno que está a acontecer em todas as partes do mundo terrestre, com impactos negativos no bem estar de milhares de milhões de pessoas. Reconhecendo a necessidade de uma ação global contra a degradação do solo, os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, adotados pela comunidade global em 2015, incluem um objetivo específico para travar o declínio de recursos terrestres e atingir a neutralidade de degradação do solo (NDS) até 2030. A presente tese de doutoramento teve como grande objetivo a operacionalização da NDS a nível nacional, usando o Quénia como caso de estudo. As principais perguntas de investigação consideradas nesta dissertação foram colocadas num enquadramento socio-ecológico, em que ecossistemas estão integrados com a sociedade. A primeira tarefa desta investigação consistiu em determinar valores de degradação e de regeneração do solo para estabelecer a base de referência de NDS nacional usando três indicadores de NDS (cobertura de solo, produtividade do solo e reservas de carbono). Seguidamente foram identificados os principais fatores que influenciam a degradação do solo (browning) e a regeneração do solo (greening) nas 4 principais coberturas de solo (agricultura, floresta, pastos e matos), bem como numa área marcada por alterações da cobertura de solo. Para a terceira tarefa foi avaliada a eficácia do atual quadro político sobre o uso de solo, bem como das instituições associadas, na viabilização da implementação da NDS. Na última parte da dissertação é adotada uma escala a nível da bacia hidrográfica, como uma abordagem “climate smart” adequada para a operacionalização da NDS a um nível sub-nacional.