Determinants of food security among pastoralist communities in Kenya: the case study of Samburu County

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dc.contributor.authorLesamana, D. N.
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-16T08:51:44Z
dc.date.available2025-12-16T08:51:44Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionFull - text thesis
dc.description.abstractFood security remains a critical challenge among pastoralist communities in Kenya’s arid and semi- arid lands (ASALs), where households heavily depended on livestock and faced recurrent climate shocks. This study investigated the determinants of food security among pastoralist households in Samburu County, focusing on three thematic domains: animal productivity, socio-economic characteristics and climate change adaptation strategies. Guided by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and grounded in a positivist philosophy, the study employed a cross-sectional survey design and quantitative methodology. Data were collected from 502 households using structured questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression. The findings revealed that only 13.7% of households were food secure, while 54.6% were moderately food insecure and 31.7% were severely food insecure. Livestock ownership and productivity emerged as the most influential predictors. Each additional animal increased the probability of a household being food secure by 8.8%, while higher production of livestock by-products (especially milk) and participation in breeding practices significantly improved food security outcomes. Although 98.8% of households reported access to veterinary services, less than 40% engaged in feed production or preservation, exposing them to seasonal shortages and limiting their adaptive capacity. Socio-economic factors, including household asset value, income from livestock sales and land size, were positively associated with food security. However, 85.4% of household heads were uneducated and while education was intuitively important, it was not a statistically significant predictor in the regression model. Climate change adaptation practices were widespread but uneven. While 91.8% of households perceived long-term climate changes and nearly half experienced two or more droughts in the past five years, formal tools such as early warning systems (7.8%) and insurance (2.6%) were scarcely adopted. Nonetheless, the adoption of multiple adaptation strategies had a cumulative effect—each additional strategy increased the probability of food security by 33%. The study recommended expanding climate-smart extension services through community-based organizations, promoting low- literacy communication methods, establishing pastoralist-focused SACCOs to enhance financial inclusion, leveraging mobile technology for climate and market information and implementing targeted food and nutrition interventions during the lean season from March to July. Further research was suggested in three key areas: the role and effectiveness of extension services in influencing adaptive behaviors; the barriers to uptake of early warning systems and trust in institutional information; and the economic viability of adaptation strategies through cost-benefit analysis.
dc.identifier.citationLesamana, D. N. (2025). Determinants of food security among pastoralist communities in Kenya: The case study of Samburu County [Strathmore University]. http://hdl.handle.net/11071/15961
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11071/15961
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherStrathmore University
dc.titleDeterminants of food security among pastoralist communities in Kenya: the case study of Samburu County
dc.typeThesis
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