| dc.description.abstract | Around the world, human activities such as resource exploitation and pollution have put the natural environment in peril. Lake Victoria is no exception to this dilemma, as it suffers from pollution and over-exploitation of its resources, yet supporting a diverse range of socio-economic activity. In the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), many empirical studies on environmental and fisheries research have been conducted, but only a few have been used or distributed to fishermen, despite the fact that policies exist to encourage the use of research findings. Despite the availability of study findings and policy, Kisumu City continues to face ecosystem health issues such as poor water quality, inadequate fish product handling, and diminishing fish catches. This is most likely due to resource users' inadequate application of study findings. As a result, the purpose of this research was to investigate the factors that influence research utilization and policy implications in environmental management among Kisumu City fisherfolks. The goal of this study was to determine how socioeconomic factors, information distribution channels, and policy issues influenced how research findings were used in environmental and fisheries management. In this study, a cross-sectional research design was used. From a population of 15,179 fisherfolks, 384 were chosen using stratified random selection. The household data was collected, and the unit of analysis was the household head, who may be either a father or a mother. Data was collected from policymakers at County and National level. Purposive sampling was used to choose all 11 policymakers for the research. The two sets of questionnaires used to collect data from fishermen and policymakers were piloted in Nyamuare and Homa-bay counties. A cronch alpha of 0.8 demonstrated significant ralibility of questionnaires. 8 key informants were purposively sampled and interviewed. 9 Focus Group Discussions were conducted using FGD guide. Analysis of the data revealed that 52.8% and 63.8% of fisherfolks had no access to environmental research findings and fisheries research findings respectively. Radio 23.36%, television 17.10% and public baraza 15.8% were the most prefered channels for deseminating research findings. Accordingly, 55% of the policymakers revealed that environmental research disseminating policy exist but 83% of them decried of no political good will from the government and lack of financial resources leading to poor utilization of environmental and fisheries research findings. Chi-Square test revealed that under socioeconomics, education (0.020) was significant influencer of utilization of fisheries research finding at p value 0.05. Furthermore, the most preferred dissemination channels of environmental study findings were radio (p=0.001), television (p=0.000), and newspaper (p=0.000) at (p <0.05). It was recommended that capacity buildings and intensified social support network like cash transfer was necessary to increase utilization of environmental research. More environmental and fisheries research finding information should be disseminated through radios and public baraza. Increased fundings and minimum political interference in pertinent environmental issues would improve environmental quality in LVB. This findings will enhance effective dissemination and application of environmental and fisheries research findings by Government and fisherfolks respectively for improvement of environmental and fisheries management. | en_US |
