Tana Delta Irrigation Project, Kenya: An Environmental Assessment

Rehabilitation of the Tana Delta Irrigation Project, Kenya: An Environmental Assessment.
Further background complimentary to this report can be found in a number of other reports
commissioned by TARDA (the Tana and Athi River Development Authority) 1 .
STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION
The study area involves the Polder 1 development of the TDIP (Tana Delta Irrigation Project),
an approximately 2000 hectare area of fertile floodplain converted to commercial rice
production from 1991-1999, with assistance from the Japanese Government and managed by
TARDA (Tana and Athi River Development Authority). The El Nino floods of 1997
subsequently significantly decreased the size of the viable production area, with the
rehabilitation of the original area now proposed.
Six villages are commonly associated with the TDIP Polder 1 area, and are therefore
considered to be legitimate stakeholders. Land falling with the traditionally-demarcated
boundaries of three of these - Kulesa, Wema and Hewani – was incorporated into the project,
whilst the other three villages – Bfumbwe, Sailoni and Baandi - border the project area, and
have traditionally utilized ‘common property’ resources within the project area, and continue to
do so - typically the floodplain forests, and available grazing areas.
All the villages are inhabited by traditional Pokomo cultivators, with exception of Baandi,
which is inhabited by traditional Orma pastoralists. Baandi has existed on a permanent basis
in close proximity to Hewani village since 1988 after being forced to leave their previous
permanent village, Gardeni – a few hundred metres further south – due to flooding as a result
of government road construction of the nearby Malindi-Lamu highway. The Orma residents of
Baandi distinguish themselves amongst pastoralists as being ‘permanent’ within the Tana
River delta, as opposed to ‘nomadic’, as is characteristic of the majority of pastoralists using
the delta for dry-season grazing– whether Orma, Wardey, or Somali.
Other villages, both Pokomo cultivators and Orma or Wardey pastoralists, located further
away from the project area have also traditionally used the project area; however, this study
confines itself to the immediate six villages, and therefore does not consider the impact the
outlying villages. During the course of the study, it was found that, according to the study
villages, the “stake” in forest resources by outlying villages is not significant. However, this
claim would require further validation in the event of any planned intervention impacting forest
management.
METHODOLOGY
The socio-economic rapid assessment involved three methodology types:
A. Household ‘occupational structure’ questionnaire survey. Key informants from each
village were asked to ascertain the distribution of each village’s population between what
they perceived to be ‘poor’, ‘medium’ and ‘rich’ categories. A sample of 15 households
per village was selected, stratified according to the relative size of the wealth categories
for that village i.e. where a village contained 50% ‘poor’, 50% of households sampled
(N=7) were ‘poor’. Key informants then completed an occupational/activity questionnaire
for each selected household, in order to determine livelihood dependence.
B. Household ‘vulnerability’ and ‘forest use’ questionnaire survey. 20 households were
randomly sampled from each village, but stratified according to the same wealth category
distribution as in (A) above. The survey focused on forest benefit- and cost-types;
importance to the household; and perceived trends in demand and supply.
1 A. ‘Analysis of the Situation on the Ground report 12-27 th September 1999’ - draft, TDEAP (Tana Delta
Environmental Awareness Programme), Oct. 1999
B. ‘Environmental Interface’, Chapter 14 Tana River Irrigation Project (Extension) Feasibility Study Vol. 11,
August 1983
C. ‘Environmental Study’, Annex 5 Tana Delta Irrigation Project Definitive Development Plan Vol. IV, year
unknown.
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