Presentation 5th Dec 2014

NON-AGRICULTURAL INCOME
GENERATING ACTIVITIES IN MORPUS SUB
LOCATION, WEST POKOT, KENYA
By
Moges Kibret and Bigirimana Celestin
Introduction
 There are various income generating activities in rural areas
 agricultural income generating activities (AIGA)
 non agricultural income generating activities (NAIGA)
 The study is aiming at looking at non-agricultural economic
activities in Morpus sub location
Objectives
• To assess and relate the impact of non-agricultural activities on
land degradation
• To evaluate whether non-agricultural activities are sustainably
improving livelihoods of the people in Morpus
Methodology
 Morpus sub location, Bathei location, Chepareria divison,
West Pokot county.
 Area =74 km2
Boundaries of Morpus:
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Chepkopegh in West,
Sebukwo in North,
Parua in East and
Ywalateke in South
 Population size 6800 (Males, 2800; males, 4000)
 Number of households in Morpus is 1500.
Methodology (cont’d)
• Data collection tools/data collection process
Key informant interview (KII): description of the
study area,
2 Focus Group Discussion (FDG)
Methodology (cont’d)
2 FGDs were conducted
Results
 NAIGA in Morpus
• shop keeping, mining, collecting and selling stones,
firewood collection,
• sand collection, charcoal burning, wood work, clay pots,
jars and jewelers making,
• bicycle and motorcycle riding, house construction, land
terracing, pasture fencing, beverage selling
• herbal medicine selling, grain mills, bee keeping
Results (cont’d)
Results (cont’d)
Family members dynamics in NAIGA
Men handle hard jobs
Women are mostly involved in activities that do
not require a lot of energy
Results (cont’d)
Results (cont’d)
Advantages and disadvantages of NAIGA
Advantages
Availability of market for minerals,
Presence of customers for shop keepers,
 Easy access to charcoal buyers
Disadvantages
Fencing jobs are scarce
 Gold mining may lead to loss of life,
Theft of goods in shops,
Most of the activities are tiresome
 Need a lot of labour,
Charcoal smoke is harmful for lungs,
Burning may occur in charcoal making,
Gold mining needs bending the body the
whole day which make cause backache and
backbone damage
Results (cont’d)
AIGA in Morpus
Livestock production and selling
Selling animal products such as milk and eggs
Selling pasture, crop production, vegetable and
fruits
Advantages and disadvantages of AIGA
Advantages
Land ownership certificates, making
enclosures, presence of animal markets,
food supply for the household hold,
getting school fees and medical service,
etc.
Disadvantages
Rainfall variation, lack of market of milk
selling, high prices, animal diseases,
presence of crop pests and diseases,
human diseases
Discussion
Livelihood highly mostly depends on agricultural
activities
NAIGA affect negatively the environment and
health of the community
Activities such as charcoal burning leads to
deforestation, and carbon emission
Mining leads to soil erosion
Conclusion &Recommendations
Conclusion
 As compared to AIGA, NAIGA were found to be
most important factors for land degradation and soil
depletion.
 Are not sustainable livelihood mechanisms,
 AIGA increases soil fertility and are sustainable
Recommendation
 Need of awareness creation
 Need of market creation in Morpus
THANK YOU VERY MUCH