Combating land degradation in the semi-arid rangeland of sub-Saharan Africa is essential to ensure the long-term productivity of these environments. In the Lake Baringo basin in Kenya, communities and individual farmers restored indigenous vegetation inside enclosures in an effort to combat severe land degradation and address their livelihood problems. This study quantified the benefits of rangeland rehabilitation using yearly communal enclosures’ utilisation data compiled by Rehabilitation of Arid Environments (RAE) Trust over a 6-year period (2005–2010). Results showed that communal enclosures provide a source of income through the sale of fattened livestock, harvested grass seeds, hay, honey and charcoal, among other products. Regression analysis showed an increasing total enclosure income with time. The enclosures also provide grasses for thatching, livestock feed and dry season grazing. Indirect products like milk, blood and meat are essential for household nutrition and food security. These benefits reinforce the management through incentive to maintain existing enclosures and establish new ones and therefore the increasing trend in rangeland enclosure. Increased soil and biomass carbon storage could come with other indirect environmental benefits including improvement in soil quality, land productivity for pasture production and food security, and prevention of land degradation, thus leading to economic, environmental and social benefit for the local agropastoralist communities.
rangeland rehabilitation through enclosures for revegetation Revegetation through ripping and grass reseeding has the potential to restore degraded rangelands and improve their potential for livestock production and wildlife conservation. Revegetation also has potential to provide direct economic benefit as a source of income through the pasture-related income-generated activities (IGAs), and a balanced diet from milk especially for children (Makokha et al. 1999; Mekuria et al., 2011b). The first category is the reseeded, communally owned, and communally managed enclosure. This belongs to the community and is managed by a community group with back-stopping from RAE’s extension. Nine communal enclosures were systematically selected across the Njemps Flats for this study (Table I). The selected communal enclosure’s ages ranged from 19 to 28 years in the year 2010.
Climate change impacts | Effect of Nbs on CCI | Effect measures |
---|---|---|
Loss of food production | Positive | income generated by enclosures through various goods including livestock production benefits, seed grass harvesting, dry season grazing, grass cutting for thatch, wood cutting, bee keeping. ‘ combined with what the authors refer to as a qualitative assessment of intervention impact on livelihoods (relating to the climatic impact land degradation leading to loss of ecosystem goods |
Loss of other ecosystem goods | Positive | income generated by enclosures through various goods including livestock production benefits, seed grass harvesting, dry season grazing, grass cutting for thatch, wood cutting, bee keeping. ‘ combined with what the authors refer to as a qualitative assessment of intervention impact on livelihoods (relating to the climatic impact land degradation leading to loss of ecosystem goods) |
The Njemps Flats (1°45′ and 0°15′N latitude; 35°45′ and 36°30′E longitude) covers approximately 305 km2 and is one of 11 range units in Baringo County in Kenya (Figure 1).