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resource base, ignoring the richness of local knowledge, skills and capacity for
innovation in overcoming or circumventing environmental constraints.
Development and policy actors tend to pay more attention to the
environmental consequences of charcoal production (assumed to be negative)
with little attention to its social aspects. What the community is doing is viewed
as wrong, so other, more 'sustainable', measures are needed for adaptation.
In tandem, there is a general assumption that these environmental protection
measures would benefit marginalized communities, and this then is used to
justify the immediate negative consequences that are observed (Girard 2002). In
this chapter, we do not conduct a thorough investigation of the environmental
consequences of various forms of charcoal production. Instead we focus on the
societal aspects of charcoal production, acknowledging that the activity may also
have negative environmental consequences. That said, it should be noted that
various sustainable methods for charcoal production and use also exist (Kituyi
2004; Njenga et al. 2013).
Case study in makueni district
Background
Makueni District (now Makueni County) is an administrative unit in the
Eastern Province of Kenya. The district has a population of 884,527 and an area
of about 8000 km
2
. The district is divided into various agro-ecological zones,
ranging from semi-arid zones which support mixed farming activities, to very
arid zones. Farming is the main economic activity, and is almost entirely rain-fed.
The climate is hot and dry for most of the year. There is semi-arid vegetation,
with low and erratic rainfall. Makueni is one of the most food-insecure counties
in Kenya, with the majority of the population (73 per cent) living below the
poverty line.
In 2008, the present authors conducted a study of household vulnerability
and adaptive capacity in Makueni to food security threats posed by drought and
climate change (Ochieng and Yitambe 2012). The study was carried out soon
after a drought in 2006 that had devastating effects on livelihoods. This led to
a surge in the number of development agencies (DAs) working in the region,
seeking to respond to the disaster but also to boost adaptive capacity to minimize
the impact of future disasters.
The study entailed a questionnaire to 342 household heads, and interviews
with 12 DAs. The interviews were held with those responsible for the design
and implementation of the drought management and climate-change adaptation
programmes. Information on the DAs was obtained from the households, who
were asked to report on DAs they were involved with, or that they knew were
working on issues of drought and food security in the region. Interview findings
from DAs were validated through interviews with community groups involved
in the DA activities.
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