Sabaot Traditional Practice and its impact on Environmental Management in Mt. Elgon Sub-County

Abstract

The rate at which the Sabaot traditional practices are being marginalized and even getting lost remains a major concern among the Sabaot community because of its positive impact on environmental management. The objective of this study was to analyze the Sabaot traditional practices and their impacts on environmental management in Mt. Elgon sub-county. The target population for the study was 400 households. The sample of 120 was selected. Snow-balling technique was employed to obtain the 18 Sabaot community elders (sages). Purposive sampling was used to obtain the two 2 chairmen of Kony and Mosop sub-dialects of the Sabaot community. The 100 household heads were selected using stratified random sampling. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and interview guides. The content validity of the instruments was accomplished by expert input from the supervisors. A pilot study was conducted in Kongit sub-location. Quantitative data was analysed by use of descriptive statistic while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The study found that there were the traditional beliefs and practices among the Sabaot that were crucial in forest conservation and management.  The study revealed that there has been a decline in the protection of flora and fauna as traditional practices have been declining in regard to the use of prohibitions. The study further found that traditional practices with proven utility are still capable of enhancing environmental management. The study recommends the traditional best practices in environmental management be rekindled, recorded and preserved.

Key words: Sabaot Traditional practice, impacts, Environmental Management