Kenya is one of the many countries in Sub Saharan Africa affected by climate variability and its related hazards due to changes in temperature and variations in rainfall in most parts of the country. The present study has been undertaken to assess the adaptation strategies applied by the small scale farmers in response to climate variability in Nyandarua County. The study has been conducted in central region of Kenya which is relatively humid and good for agricultural production. A total sample size of 300 respondents from five sub counties was used to collect the primary data through the random sampling technique. Descriptive Likert analysis and Inferential binary logit regression was used to assess the factors affecting the willingness to adopt crop insurance to mitigate the risks of variability of climate on crop farming. The results of the study indicate that adoption of crop insurance scored very low in relation to other adaptation strategies. The logit regression model on the other hand revealed that age and marital status was positively significant with willingness to adopt crop insurance while the marginal effects of levels of income and monthly income implied that the likelihood of willingness to adapt crop insurance increased by 1.32 times and 13.3 percent respectively. Based on the study findings, if small scale farmers are well supported to adopt crop insurance, then this adaptation strategy can be among the most effective strategies in Kenya. However, due to low adaptive capacity, more awareness needs to be created on the importance and procedures of obtaining the specific agricultural insurance covers. The study concludes that modern adaptation approaches are important in presence of formal crop insurance policies especially in the rural areas of Kenya.

Accessibility to childbirth services is a necessity despite geographic, demographic and socio-economic origin. The distribution pattern between health facilities and households in rural areas is not as extensively researched as those of urban areas, especially pastoral communities. Challenges in accessing social amenities including childbirth service centres are dominant. This study aims to assess the spatial accessibility between the location of households and the location of the childbirth health facility in Magadi Ward. The study employed geospatial techniques to visualize the spatial distribution of households and health facilities; and the road connectivity between them. To represent the variation, accessibility zones were modelled using the Euclidean distance tool. Buffer analysis was also conducted to indicate the relationship between the served and unserved areas in regard to the five kilometres Ministry of Health recommended radius. Coordinates of 246 households were randomly picked from the eight community unit clusters in the Magadi ward. The findings revealed the number of women who delivered at health facilities to be 38.2%, while those who delivered at home were 61.8% contrary to the majority being within the service area of the buffer. The most accessible zones were located in the central and upper western parts of Magadi Ward. The utilization of antenatal and postnatal care services and health facilities for the place of delivery differed significantly. The results indicate the poor use of health facilities as a place of delivery for women who utilized childbirth services in the last year, prior to data collection. This provides valuable information and location-based evidence of low access to health facilities for childbirth services, and therefore, offers guidance on sound decision making and strategies to improve on the accessibility of childbirth services.

The choice of place of delivery is still debatable in most sub-Saharan African societies’ especially pastoral communities. The decision on whether to deliver at a health facility or at home varies across households. This study sought to evaluate the effects of computed distance, demographic and socio-economic factors on the place of child delivery in rural Magadi, Kenya. The integration of both spatial and statistical techniques was adopted. Distances (straight-line distance, road network distance to the nearest health facility and primary facility) were computed using tools in the Network Analyst toolbox. Computed distances of 246 sampled households together with demographic and socioeconomic factors were further analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. The findings showed that calculated road network distance to the primary facility was a determinant of access and use of place of delivery both for the adjusted and the unadjusted odds. Women aged 20 years or below, having more children, secondary education or above and those who are unmarried are more likely to deliver at health facility. Receiving 1 or 2 childbirth services from a health facility, being aware of a private actor who set up the health facility and involvement of the spouse in the decision-making of place of birth are also linked to the use of health facility for child delivery. Deliveries at home were related to family monthly income level, family occupation, opinion on health facility location and being aged between 21 – 30 years. It was found that though computed road distance to the primary facility was the dominant factor, other variables such as level of education, parity, awareness of local actors, other childbirth services received prior to child delivery and marital status determined whether a woman would access and use health facilities for child delivery.

Abstract