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"Within water-scarce environments, household characteristics such as family size, income, dependence on markets, and influence of external agents, among others, interact with the biophysical environment to produce socio-hydrological outcomes. Livelihood decisions and outcomes not only are dependent on socio-economic factors such as proximity of employment sources and the number of individuals to tend to farming operations, they are also tied to periodicity of rainfall and the reliability of surface water to maintain livelihood operations. As a result, an understanding of both social and biophysical characteristics is essential when examining coupled outcomes within water-scarce environments.
In the Mount Kenya region, livelihoods are heavily dependent on the availability of water, whether through rainfall or surface water. To manage this essential resource, irrigation projects have been established on the western and north-western slopes of the mountain. The management committees of these irrigation projects determine water availability during seasonal dry periods, enforce penalties for water misuse, make repairs to damaged infrastructure, and collect membership and maintenance fees. The ability of the irrigation projects to reliably deliver water is essential in determining the agricultural performance of the member households.
The 2013 manager questionnaire was administered to the chairperson of each irrigation project. It was designed to understand attributes of the irrigation projects (such as age of the infrastructure and membership fees), land and water assets of the irrigation project members, agricultural activities taking place within the irrigation project, and the rules and norms that exist within the irrigation project. Questions concerning the rules and norms represented the majority of manager survey questions, as the inner workings of the irrigation projects are revealed through examination of monitoring structures, monetary penalties, participation in project meetings, distribution of water during low flow periods, and coordination with other irrigation projects. The 2013 manager survey was administered within twenty-five irrigation projects. More than twenty-five manager surveys were administered, since, on occasion, surveys were administered not only to the chairperson of the irrigation project, but also to the secretary and/or treasurer." |
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