Undeveloped Adaptation: Climate
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNDEVELOPED ADAPTATION CLIMATE RISKS, VULNERABILITY AND HOUSEHOLD WELL-BEING IN MWINGI/KENYA Serah Wambui Kiragu Thesis submitted to Universität Bayreuth in fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Doctor of Sciences in Social Geography Supervisor Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn 15 May 2013 Dedication To my son Kiragu Kimani. For making do with telephone parenting. i Acknowledgements In my childhood days, my dreams and interest in pursuing doctoral studies were silently nur- tured as I listened to stories of, and admired the persona of Prof. Wangari Maathai. She was the most educated woman in my home district, Nyeri-Kenya by then, a renowned environ- mentalist who would later be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. It was no wonder that when I joined Kenyatta University in 1994, I chose environmental studies as my degree course and continued with the same focus at master’s level in Moi University, Eldoret. My first major engagement, at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was enriching. It is here that the debates on climate change came close to my mind. I had to sup- port programmes of adaptation to climate change in the water sector in Tanzania. I felt inade- quate beyond the managerial roles and thought that a PhD topic on climate change and adap- tation would equip me with better skills to be able to make worthwhile contributions to cli- mate change programmes. So, in 2008, through the support of Moi University, I gave up a promotion at IUCN to start my studies in Germany. Moi University had entered into a part- nership with University of Bayreuth to support a Graduate School of African Studies. One of the research areas of focus was risk and environmental criticalities in Africa – a fitting um- brella where I could pursue my interest on climate change. It is therefore through the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIG- SAS), University of Bayreuth, which I am immensely grateful to, for offering me the oppor- tunity and funding four years of my studies. The University of Bayreuth provided a conducive academic environment that enabled me to interact with a broad range of scholars. The process has been personally rewarding and constantly challenging, widening my intellectual and phys- ical boundaries. I thank the successive Deans of BIGSAS, namely Prof. Dr. Ute Fendler and Prof. Dr. Dymitr Ibriszimow, for all the institutional support that has been extended to me throughout these years. I am also grateful to BIGSAS management and administrative team, particularly Frau Christine Scherer and Frau Martina Schubert-Adams, for their unwavering support. I am also grateful for the three-month finalisation stipend from the Stabsabteilung Chancengleicheit of the University of Bayreuth. I extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Detlef Müller-Mahn, who has patiently stood by me throughout these years, always with boundless support. He offered guidance through questions of every conceivable level of difficulty in my research with sharp analytical intelligence while always displaying understanding and humility. A million thanks for the encouragement, understanding, believing in and supporting me. I am also indebted to Dr. Gil- ii bert Nduru of Moi University who opened the door for me to the challenging academic life provided by the BIGSAS programme in Bayreuth. Through him, I met Prof. Müller-Mahn. Dr. Nduru also supported me during my fieldwork in Mwingi. My thanks are extended to Prof. Martin Doevenspeck, who was in my mentoring team, for providing intellectual stimula- tion and guidance at critical stages of my dissertation writing. Several colleagues were in- strumental in reading through various parts of my dissertation. I am grateful to Chinwe Ifejika Speranza of Bern University-Switzerland, my BIGSAS colleagues Girum, Samuel, Jimam, Peter, Million and Ivan. Your reviews helped to strengthen the way I communicated my work. My sincere thanks go to the many people who supported me during my field work in Kenya. Mr. Francis Koma of Arid Lands project (ALRMP) was instrumental in my settling down in Mwingi. I am grateful to the ALRMP team – Elizabeth Njeri, Kasim, Jane, Lena, Kasea and Kembo. My research assistants did a great job and are worth of acknowledgement. Diana Wambua, Stephen Muvengei and Mwasa, you enabled and facilitated my interaction with the Mwingi households. This work benefited from many respondents stretching from government offices to farmers’ fields. I cannot thank you individually by names, but I am forever grateful for your time and input into my inquiry. Over the years of my stay and studies in Uni-Bayreuth, I have forged many precious relations that contributed to my well-being of homeliness. Spanning the whole African continent, I will forever remain linked to my new found friends, among many: Chikas Danfulani and Lohna Bonkat of Nigeria, Salma Abdalla and Ahmed el Hassab of Sudan, Girum Getachew of Ethi- opia, Ndugus Fr. Francis Ngatigwa and Mkubukwa Abdallah of Tanzania, Jude Kagoro of Uganda, Ramzi Amara of Tunisia, Laure Peem of Cameroon, the Benin, Togo and Senegal colleagues. Closer home are the proudly Kenyans – Halkano Abdi Wario, Magdaline Wafula, Samuel Ndogo, Duncan Omanga, Dr. and Mrs Dennis Otieno, Pamela Ng’etich and Robert Owino. The chats in Kiswahili made me feel home away from home. During the cold winter evenings of the early years into my studies, we formed an amorphous group and called it research area E, simulating an extension of BIGSAS Research Areas A, B, C and D. We would frequently meet at Café Ponte for coffee or at Royal for Döner Kebab. A big wave to my comrades in R.A. EatingTm. In the course of my studies, I met and made wonderful German student friends. Jennifer Scheffler was a good buddy and a fantastic organizer. With her, I visited and tried on new things – bowling, skiing, ice-skating, planting flowers and zuchinis on BIGSAS window seals. She encouraged me to contribute to the BIGSAS student newsletter, by running a tiny iii column titled my Green BIGSAS. I hope I contributed to resource use efficiency in the BIG- SAS student office wing. I will truly miss you Jenny. Other friends included Johanna Rieß, Lena Kroeker, Valerie Hänsch, Antje Daniel and Clemens Romankiewicz. Alžběta Dunajová from Czech Republic, I remember you in the many lunch times we shared at the GSP Mensa. Many thanks also to my adopted German grandparents – Opa und Oma Herr and Frau Spulak for always creating a warm and friendly atmosphere and for having been so wonderful to your Afrikanische Enkeln. Oma, your Käsekuchen und Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut is the best! Hats off to my friend Christian. He supported and encouraged me, especially during those dark hours of dissertation writing when one feels to be making one step forward and two back- wards. The many walks and bike rides were wonderful in maintaining sanity when sometimes the “stuff” seemed not to move at speed. My mother remains the biggest treasure of my life. She stepped into my parenting responsibil- ity of my son at dire movements of my career advancement – at my master’s and doctoral studies. What would I have done without you Mum? I am because you are! I love you so much! I also thank my Dad encouraging me to push on. Having completed his PhD at the age of 62, he gave me the motivation to soldier on and to keep my eyes “on the ball”. I also thank my son, Kiragu Kimani, who for the biggest part of the last four and a half years, had to bear with a “mum on the telephone”. Parenting and homework were done through phone. You are very dear to me and I thank you for your understanding. Above all, I give thanks to almighty God for the gift of life and health. I end by reflecting on Ecclesiastes 9:11 – “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ...... but time and chance happens to them all”. iv Table of Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ii List of tables .......................................................................................................................... viii List of figures ........................................................................................................................ viii List of maps ............................................................................................................................. ix List of boxes ............................................................................................................................ ix List of photos .......................................................................................................................... ix Acronyms ................................................................................................................................ xi Abstract ................................................................................................................................. xiii Kurzdarstellung ..................................................................................................................... xiv Summary ............................................................................................................................... xvi EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF ADAPTATION ...................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................