Factors Influencing Household Tree Planting Behaviour. A Case Study of Wangchieng Ward, Homabay County

Abstract

The ever-increasing impacts of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa have made many aware and struggle with livelihood options from nature, and the need for households and communities to plant trees can no longer be over-emphasised. Community tree planting is crucial for global environmental sustainability. The information that guided the public in selecting the tree they plant in their private spaces is important, especially to policymakers. This paper was aimed at analysing the factors that influence community tree planting behaviour. The study used a mixed-methods approach that involved both qualitative research using focus groups as well as quantitative research using questionnaires administered to the residents of the ten locations in Wangchieng ward: Homabay County in December 2021. A sample of 380 community households was selected, 38 in each location, through purposive sampling technique and mixed structured questionnaires delivered to them. The questionnaires assessed community attitudes and conservation involvement against the socioeconomic background, benefits, and costs of planting trees. Results showed that most residents of Wangchieng ward have positive attitudes towards tree planting. The data collected from the questionnaires showed that socioeconomic factors such as age, education levels and income were positively related to participation in community tree-planting programs among respondents. A stepwise binary logistics conducted ranked six variables as the major factors influencing household tree planting. The importance of trees was ranked at position one (most influential variable) with an odd ratio of 9.287, and at position six was education level with an odd ratio of 1.207. The full model containing all the variables was statistically significant at χ2 (10, N = 370) = 98.312, p < .001, clearly indicating that the model was able to distinguish respondents who have planted and those who have not planted trees in the last six months. Thus, it is recommended that household tree planting can significantly be enhanced by improving knowledge on the importance of trees, their various ecosystem goods and services, making seedlings cheaply available for households as well as promoting households to do agroforestry in their farmers