Tana Delta Irrigation Project, Kenya: An Environmental Assessment

Rehabilitation of the Tana Delta Irrigation Project, Kenya: An Environmental Assessment.
SUMMARY
Following extensive damage resulting from the 1997 El Nino rains, it has been proposed that
Polder 1 of the Tana Delta Irrigation Project (TDIP) be rehabilitated. In relation to the socioeconomic
context dynamics, pertinent conclusions and recommendations relevant to the
future of proposed rehabilitation of the rice irrigation scheme (TDIP) are summarised in
Section 6 of this report. The ‘headline’ conclusions are:
• Communities acknowledge the importance of the forest patches to their livelihoods –
particularly for coping mechanisms during the long, dry season, and express the desire
for the forests to be conserved - and even expanded.
• Communities acknowledge the decline of forest patches. The major perceived causes of
forest decline include (i) increased community demand (ii) lack of seasonal flooding due
to the change in the course of the Tana River (iii) poor enforcement of use regulations
• Communities believe the most effective solutions for forest conservation lie in increased
community management; allied to appropriate technical assistance.
• Significant levels of both poverty and vulnerability characterize the TDIP-associated
communities, with the greatest constraint being lack of rainfall. At the same time, the
irrigated rice scheme – if targeted correctly - holds the potential to contribute significantly
to livelihood improvement and, by extension, more sustainable use of forest patches, at
relatively low cost to the project.
• However, the relationship between TARDA and the communities is characterised by
mistrust and bad feeling, due to historical factors.
The ‘headline’ recommendations are that:
1. Participatory forest management (PFM) be piloted, based on twin goals of indigenous
forest conservation and forest expansion (both indigenous and exotic)
2. The proposed rehabilitation should attempt to redress the TDIP communities’ livelihood
vulnerability and lack of development options, through which will also serve to reduce
pressure on the declining natural resource base.
3. In order for sustainable outcomes to be achieved, appropriate design and implementation
must necessarily engage the communities as partners, and be characterised by
information sharing, consultation and collaboration.
4. Community-related interventions – whether concerning forest or livelihoods – are
implemented through mutually agreed, third party agencies rather than through the
TDIP managing body, TARDA.
INTRODUCTION
The study terms of reference (see Annex 1) with respect to the socio-economic aspect of the
TDIP rehabilitation in broad terms involve rapid assessment of the socio-economic context;
forest resource use; and the interaction between the two; specifically:
• Description of community livelihood strategies
• Assessment of reliance of livelihoods on the natural resource base
• Identification and analysis of key natural resources: use, access, attitudes, behaviour
• Assessment of constraints to community livelihoods
The expectation was that the results would lead to the identification of and recommendations
for opportunities to mitigate threats to the forests, in an economically viable and socially
acceptable manner.
This approach is broadly based on the Sustainable Livelihood Assessment framework
developed by IDS (Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK) and adopted
by DFID (Department for International Development, UK) - an approach increasingly
recognised as an sector standard for assessing socio-economic real or potential intervention
impacts. The central premise behind the approach is that any intervention – conservationrelated
or otherwise – must be considered in the context of livelihood dynamics in order to
arrive at meaningful conclusions and/or design.
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