| dc.description.abstract | Conventional sources of energy are normally expensive and have a negative impact on
the environment, requiring the use of alternative energy sources that have minimum
impact on the environment, which the Maasai pastoral community in Kajiado West
have not adopted. There was therefore need to assess the factors influencing the level
of use of alternative sources of energy with a view of addressing the issues. The specific
objectives of the study were (i) to investigate the influence of level of awareness of
alternative sources of energy on the level of their use, (ii) to examine the influence of
technology availability and maintenance of alternative sources of energy on the level
of their use, (iii) to assess the influence of affordability of alternative sources of energy
on the level of their use and (iv) to determine the effectiveness of the sources of energy
and the level of their use by the Maasai pastoral community in Kajiado West, Kajiado
County. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The study targeted Maasai
households in Kajiado West. The sampling frame was made up of the Maasai
households that were specifically involved in pastoralism. A stratified random sample
of 183 pastoral households were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The data
was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in a Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (IBM SPSS version 26). The level of use of alternative energy sources
by Maasai pastoral households in Kajiado West was found to be low (M=2.09,
SD=1.76) on a scale of 0 to 5, while their use of conventional energy sources was found
to be higher (M=3.06, SD= 1.92). The level of use of alternative sources of energy by
Maasai pastoral households in Kajiado West was statistically significantly influenced
by awareness of the energy sources (β=.633, t=10.99, p<.001), availability of
technology (β=.402, t=5.91, p<.001), affordability of the energy source (β=.648,
t=11.44, p<.001) and efficiency of the energy source (β=.628, t=10.84, p<.001). The
study concluded that Maasai pastoral households in Kajiado West had low level use of
alternative sources of energy. The study also concluded that awareness, availability of
installation technology, affordability and efficiency had a statistically significant
influence on the level of use of alternative sources of energy within the target
households. The study recommended that the County Government needs to create
awareness of the usefulness of alternative sources of energy, encourage multi stakeholder networks related to the provision of renewable energy technology. The
study findings will be useful to relevant stakeholders in particular enhancing the
alternative sources of energy required to improve the community wellbeing and sustain
the environmental conditions in the area. The findings will influence policy formulation
in the area of energy. | en_US |
