Environmental impacts of stone quarrying and their influence on the wellbeing of households in Khalaleo, Mandera County, Kenya

Abstract

Stone quarrying along the Daua River in Khalaleo is a big economic activity for the households in the area, the activity has created environmental impacts, which affect the subjective wellbeing of the households. This study sought to investigate the environmental impacts of stone quarrying on household wellbeing, specifically: i) to assess the influence of the impacts of plant diversity loss from stone quarrying on the wellbeing of households within the stone quarrying areas; ii) to determine the influence of pollution impacts from stone quarrying on the wellbeing of households in the stone quarrying areas; iii) to examine the influence of land degradation impacts on the wellbeing of households within the stone quarrying areas; iv) to assess the influence of the impact of water filled quarries on the wellbeing of households found in the stone quarrying areas, and v) to rank the independent variables as to their influence on the wellbeing of households within the stone quarrying areas. A descriptive research study design was adopted for this study. The target population was the households living not more than a kilometer from the stone quarries in Khalaleo. A random sample of 196 households was selected from a sampling frame of 540 households. A researcher administered structured questionnaire was used to collect information from the household heads. The data was analyzed using descriptive (means, median, mode and frequency distribution) and inferential statistics (regression analysis, ANOVA and Chi-square test) at 95 % level of confidence in a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS version 26). The wellbeing of the households in the study area was found to be of medium level with a mean of (M= 5.32, SD=3.91) on a scale of 0 to 10. Household wellbeing of the households found in the quarrying areas was negatively influenced by loss of plant diversity ((β=-.422, t=-6.48, p<.001), pollution (β= -.246, t= - 3.542, p<.001), land degradation (β= -.736, t= - 15.149, p<.001), and Water filled quarries (β= -.522, t= - 8.531, p<.001). The wellbeing of the households in the study area can be improved by making use of the water in the quarries for irrigation and other purposes, having mitigation measures for land degradation, plant diversity loss and pollution by planting trees and grass. The findings of this study will be useful in assisting the National and County governments in formulating policies applicable to environmental management of the stone quarrying projects and improvement of the well-being of the people.