Abstract:
Water constitutes a vital element of household food security for humans and livestock. Therefore,
the general objective of this study was to establish the ease of water access, water scarcity and
coping strategies used by rural communities in selected study sites of Makueni (Kilili sub-location
in Makueni sub-county and Kyanguli sub-location in Kibwezi East sub-county), all located in
Makueni County. The study involved a total of 70 households which were selected using cluster
and simple random approach to gather quantitative data using household surveys. The data were
collected using a structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews with key informants. The
collected data was coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
Results from the analysed data were presented using tables. Results obtained revealed that
majority of the households obtained water from rivers (78%), followed by shallow wells (31%),
boreholes (28%), sand dams (24%) and springs (11%). However, most respondents at Kyanguli
obtained water from rivers (94%) compared to Kilili (62%). Further, at Kilili sub-location, majority of the households got water within less than 1 km (46%) while at Kyanguli most respondents got
water within 1-3 km (48%). Five major water access problems were documented in the study sites
included increasing distance to water sources, high cost of water, dirty water, water scarcity and
conflict with neighboring communities. In overall water scarcity was the commonest problem in
both study sites (77%), followed by dirty water (62%), increasing distance to water sources (45%),
high cost of water (44%) and conflict with neighboring communities (43%). Water use coping
mechanisms identified in the study included use of water harvesting structures, soil conservation
techniques, diversification of crop types and varieties, irrigation, water reuse, reducing number of
livestock and reduced water use. In overall the commonly used water copying mechanisms
included soil conservation (85%), water reuse (71%), reduced livestock (64%), reduced water use
(55%) and crop diversification (54%). We concluded that water scarcity, dirty water, increasing
distance to water sources, high cost of water and conflict with neighboring communities were the
main challenges which led the households to develop water coping mechanisms in the selected
sites of Makueni County. We recommend the results of this study to be used by policy makers in
water development projects in Makueni to improve water availability and access in the selected
study sites.