Assessing the Root Cause of Persistent Floods and Strategic Community-based Interventions in Bunyala, Busia County, Kenya

Abstract

Due to its persistence, dealing with flooding has become a routine survival mechanism among the people of Bunyala Sub-County in Busia. Generally, very minimal efforts have been directed at empowering communities in Kenya to deal with disasters of any form. As such, members of these communities are hardly capable of averting and or managing the impacts of disasters facing them. This study aimed at examining the root causes of persistent floods and strategic community-based interventions in Bunyala Sub-County. The researcher used a descriptive research design through which the exact condition of Bunyala Sub-County was established in a cross-sectional manner. Data was collected through interviews with key informants, administration of semi-structured questionnaires to household, as well as through discussions in focus groups. The researcher used household as the definite analysis unit. Hence, 384 households were selected as the sample size for the study.  Descriptive statistics was the main method of data analysis. Results showed that the root causes of persistent flooding in the area were environmental degradation (53%) and excessive encroachment on the floodplains.