The new constitutional order creates a county government of Tana River. The executive authority of the County government is vested in the elected Governor and the executive committee. The legislative authority is vested in the County Assembly. All functions except security, education and administration of justice have been transferred to County governments. It should be noted that more than half of Tana River County is north of the Delta, away from the shore. Managing natural resources in the Tana Delta has been a complex affair due to many factors including weak legal and institutional frameworks and multiple and competing policies, institutions and legislations. The result is an uncoordinated approach to managing resources in the Delta. This is further marred by the overlapping and conflicting mandates of the various institutions. There are inconsistencies and contradictions between various laws and policies touching on natural resources management. 2.6.2 Gender Issues A situational analysis undertaken as part of the SEA Scoping study showed that women undertake all the major household activities. Among the pastoralists, men are involved in herding while among the agriculturalists, very few men are involved in actual farm work yet they are the ones who control family resources. The major gender issues in the area include: heavy workload for women; exclusion of women from accessing economic assets due to traditional practices; exclusion of women from decision-making roles due to cultural practices; early marriages for the girl-child; and low literacy levels among women and girls due to preference for educating male children. Women are excluded from owning important economic assets. 2.6.3 Types and Sources of Conflicts There are various types and levels of conflicts in the Delta. They range from family conflicts, human-wildlife conflicts, community conflicts, conflicts between communities and TARDA and also inter-ethnic conflicts. At the family level, the major conflict is between husband and wife. Inter-ethnic conflicts have been reported between the Wardei/Orma pastoralists and Pokomo farmers. TARDA has also been accused of failing to pay casual labourers. Human-wildlife conflicts were reported by majority of respondents (86.7%). Resource use conflicts have intensified in the Delta as a result of increased pressure on the natural resources due to rapid population increase, climate change, land use conversions, insecurity of land tenure, etc. The conflicts manifest themselves in the form of wildlife – human and human – human conflicts. Human – human conflicts have been associated with competition for pasture, 13
water and farmland. Such conflicts could be managed through designating grazing and farming zones as well as rationalizing livestock numbers against available pasture. Tana Delta is also home to a diverse variety of wildlife. Increased human encroachment of wildlife habitats for settlement, grazing and farming have resulted in wildlife – human conflicts occasionally leading to loss of life, livestock and destruction of crops. The wildlife corridors and dispersal areas have been encroached. The LUP will propose a strategy to tackle the human-wildlife conflicts, e.g. by mapping the wildlife conservation areas and controlling movement into the areas.
PART THREE: ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 2.7 Geology and Soils
Tana River Delta falls within the Coastal Plains, one of the three physiographic zones on the Kenyan coast that rises from sea level to 200 m. The Delta has a coastal strip stretching 76 km which is protected by a 50 m high sand dune system. The geomorphology of the Coastal Plain is dominated by a series of raised old sea level terraces. Most of the coastal environment and the modern shore configuration follows the 0-5 m and the 5-15 m sea level terrace complexes (Government of Kenya, 2008). Soils in the Tana River Delta are generally classified as Fluvisols being divided into two subgroups: eutric and vertic Fluvisols (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983). These are generally black cotton soils with clay, loam and alluvial deposits. They have low or moderate fertility in the hinterland where there is no influence of flooding. High fertility soils are found along the natural depressions and along the flood plains of River Tana. Their fertility is due to the accumulation of silt or clay brought about by flooding. In the meander belt (river levee land) as a result of the old and new river courses, the soils are often stratified, comprising of yellowish–brown sands and clay deposits that are rich in Micas. The textures of topsoil range from sand to clay while the sub-soil is usually firm clay. The rate of infiltration of water into such soils varies with texture; being slow in areas with clay topsoil, and fast where sand forms the upper layer. Such soils have been described for the area between Lango la Simba and Abarfarda River where the topography is flat to gently undulating. Generally the soils in the terraces are excessively drained while those in the flood plain of River Tana are imperfectly drained (Government of Kenya, 2008). TANA RIVER DELTA STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT 2014