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The current study intended to analyse the drivers, communities’ awareness and economic
consequences of wetland degradation to local population living along the Ruvu riverine in
Morogoro rural and Kibaha districts. The study deployed a number of methodologies
including household questionnaire survey, interview, focus group discussion and review
of satellite images of land use change in the riverine to collect data. Data were analysed
using Statistical Software for Social Science, content analysis, Land Ecosystem
Disturbance Adaptive Processing System and ArcGIS 10 software. The findings from
satellite imagery analysis indicate the prevalence of wetland degradation within the study
area. Findings from field survey show that livestock grazing is the main cause of wetland
degradation accounting for 53% (n=122) of the degradation, arable farming was ranked as
the second most prominent driver accounting for 48% (n=122), brick making was ranked
as the third significant driver contributing 46% (n=122) and fishing was ranked as the
fourth prominent driver contributing 39%. The findings also revealed that the majority of
the respondents were mostly aware of direct benefits of wetlands. About 75% of the
respondents confirmed that floods are the main consequence of wetland degradation in
the area. The findings show further, that the local community perceive wetland
degradation as having great negative effects on their economic status especially with
regards to accessing food and generating income. Furthermore, independent variable was
able to explain about 33.2 % of the variation in the dependent variable. The study
concludes that anthropogenic activities associated with low awareness on values of
wetland significantly results to wetland degradation which has serious economic costs to
the local communities and the government. The study recommends that awareness on the direct and indirect benefits of wetlands and proper land use practices should be raised
among the communities to enable proper use of wetlands. |
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