Building Capacity to Cope with Climate Change-Induced Resource-Based Conflicts Among Grassroots Communities in Kenya

Abstract Kenya is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change-related stresses and extreme events. According to FAO, over 75% of the country is classified as arid and semiarid with rainfall availability and amounts quite unevenly spread across the different parts of the country. The country has very skewed distribution of water sources with the western area being relatively well endowed with abundant water resources. The exponential growth in the country’s population over the years, together with rapid environmental degradation and poor water resource development programs, have worsened the country’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change. Ethnic conflicts over land resources are common-place in Kenya’s rural areas where majority of the people live and the effects of extreme climate change events are likely to exacerbate resource-based conflicts. In this chapter we explore the extent of climate change-induced resource conflicts in three counties along rainfall availability gradient, namely, Kiambu County which experiences relatively high rainfall and also high urban population, Machakos County, which generally experiences modest rainfall availability, and Makueni County regarded to be one of the most arid and semiarid counties in the country. Data were collected in 2017 using a closed ended questionnaire. Between-subjects MANOVA design was used to examine relationship between independent and dependent variables. Qualitative results of the open-ended question reveal that climate change impacts can be diverse, particularly for vulnerable regions such as arid and semiarid regions such as Makueni County. In this county, respondents mentioned nine ways climate change had impacted communities, with the most frequently mentioned impact being increasing food insecurity followed by increasing water shortages. Machakos followed with seven impacts mentioned starting with increased water shortages followed by scarcity of pasture. In Kiambu County, only four impacts were mentioned with food insecurity being frequently mentioned among the list of impacts of climate change in the county. Results of the descriptive and inferential statistics reveal that resource-based conflicts vary along the hydrological gradient. In Machakos County, resource-based conflicts are perceived to have risen during the last 5 years (M = 3.92, SD = 0.66), followed by Makueni (M = 4.10, SD = 0.670). Kiambu residents do not consider resource-based conflicts to have risen during the last 5 year, (M = 2.50, SD = 1.38). Differences in severity of climate related conflicts are statistically significant, F 2, 76  = 12.78, p  <0.01. Also, climate change is strongly perceived to be a factor in the rise of resource-based conflicts in Machakos County (M = 4.10, SD = 0.67). In Makueni County as well, climate change is perceived to be a significant contributor to resource-based conflicts (M = 3.98, SD = 1.70). These findings have relevance on county and national policies targeted to build capacity to cope with climate change induced resource-based conflicts among grassroot communities in Kenya.