Climate Variability and Small-Scale Fisheries in Kenya

Abstract

Small-scale coastal fishing communities in the tropics have varied responses to climate variability constraints. These responses are often part of the different ways in which communities build adaptive capacity and resilience against internal and external stresses in their bid to reduce the impacts of prevailing and projected weather conditions. It is widely accepted that small-scale coastal fishing communities depend on fisheries resources for their livelihood. If these resources are increasingly becoming scarce as a result of climate variability pressure, a natural question to ask revolves around the ability of these fishing communities to employ alternative livelihood strategies. Drawing from a recent cross-sectional field study conducted in Ungwana Bay and the Lower Tana Delta, north coast of Kenya coupled with analysis of long -term terrestrial temperature and rainfall data, this paper describes the climate variability and the socio-economic status of the small-scale or artisanal fishing communities and how these communities are adapting to existing challenges. Trend in terrestrial temperature indicated a strong and positive correlation over time for the region (R2 = 0.7588). Small scale coastal fishing community’s livelihood showed significant association with natural resource dependence (P = 0.001, χ2 = 494.153a). Furthermore, empirical evidence indicated that while fishing is an important source of livelihood in Ngomeni and Kipini, the Ozi fishing community has expanded its sources of livelihood to include crop production. Population pressure, low level of education, and unemployment have been identified as key socio-economic factors leading to the heavy dependence on natural resources for livelihood support (χ2 = 24.273a , P = 0.004; χ2 = 46.319a , P = 0.001 and χ2 = 17.863a ; P = 0.037, respectively). It is recommended in this paper that the provision of both civic and formal education may play an important role in equipping fishing communities with knowledge for embracing and adopting alternative livelihood strategies and income generation opportunities. These strategies would also contribute to less pressure on the fisheries resources for sustainable livelihood.