Abstract:
Watershed governance has increasingly become a forum for public engagement in discussions
about water and soil management issues addressing food security. Use of the Integrated Water
Resources Management approach for decades has not effectively addressed water resource
governance issues especially in the developing countries. This study determined households
determinants of watershed governance and food security in the Lower Sio River Watershed,
Busia County in Kenya. Cross sectional survey combined with both probability and nonprobability
sampling techniques were used. A total of 387 households were sampled using a
combination of multi-stage and simple random sampling. Questionnaires, interview guides,
observation and focus group discussion guides were employed to collect primary data.
Descriptive, bivariate, chi-square and regression analysis were done. Results indicate that only
religion, land tenure system and land size showed significant difference among the households
with food security and food insecurity. Contrary to other studies, level of education, income and
type of occupation did not affect the status of household food security; however, religion did
explain 20.8% variations. Male-headed households were 1.42 times more likely to be food secure
than those headed by the females. Unlocking watershed governance for food security entails,
recognizing religious activities, sex of household head, land size and land tenure system in
formulating policy at multi-level governance and multi-sectoral decision making. All variables
including those that that never showed significant differences contribute to improved
households food security in the Lower Sio River watershed |
