Impact of Climate Change and Hydropower Development on the Community Livelihoods in the Sondu Miriu River Basin
- March 19, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Climate Change
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue III, March 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705
Willis Owino Ochieng, Christopher Oludhe, Simeon Dulo
Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Abstract:-Climate change is the expected outcome of increases in atmospheric concentrations of “greenhouse” gases resulting from human activities. Energy has been identified as one of those sectors that contribute more towards GHGs emissions while renewable energy technologies have the potential to mitigate GHGs emissions. Among all the renewable energy technologies being utilised, hydropower stands out to be the most stable and proven technology over time compared to the others. Despite hydropower having the potential to mitigate climate change impacts and support some adaptation strategies, it is also likely to be impacted on by climate change. Both climate change and hydropower development are also most likely to impact on the community livelihoods.
This paper assesses the the impacts of climate change and hydropower development on the community livelihoods within the Sondu Miriu River basin. It involves interviews with the local community, their leadership and other development actors within the basin. Vulnerability assessment and statistical applications tools have been used.
The results have shown that climate change and hydropower development have impact on the community livelihoods in general. They both have a big influence on the socioeconomic and environmental activities within the basin. The benefits derived from hydropower development project can be used to reduce the vulnerability of the local communities to climate change impacts.
Key words: climate change, hydropower, livelihoods, vulnerability, benefits
I. INTRODUCTION
For many years human activities have resulted into continuous increase of greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere. There are several greenhouse gases that occur naturally in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide. The occurance of these gases always keep the earth warm as they trap heat within the atmosphere.
