Contribution of Adventure Recreation Infrastructure to Sustainable Rural Livelihood in Nyeri, Kenya

Abstract

It is becoming more common for governments to acknowledge adventure tourism as a strategy for responsible and sustainable economic growth that is beneficial to society. This form of tourism has the potential to improve rural livelihoods by providing smallholders with multiple alternatives and opportunities to increase non-farm income. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of adventure recreation development to rural livelihoods in Nyeri County, Kenya. The specific objective of the study was to examine the effects of adventure recreation infrastructure development on rural livelihood in Nyeri County. The study adopted an exploratory research design. The target population was 248,050 household heads. The sample size was 384 respondents comprising rural household heads within Nyeri County. Cluster sampling was used for the study to divide the sample size into smaller groups (the Eight sub-counties in Nyeri County), while simple random sampling was used to distribute the sample size proportionally among the eight sub-counties. Primary data was collected through questionnaires where closed-ended questions were used. The questionnaire responses were collected using a 5-point Likert scale where 1 indicated strong disagreement, and 5 indicated strong agreement with each statement. Additionally, structured interviews were done for the respondents who had difficulties reading and writing. In this case, the questionnaire was used as an interview guide. The findings revealed that adventure recreation infrastructural development significantly (10.2%) contributed to rural livelihood. Therefore, to enhance the rural livelihoods in Nyeri County, there is a need for the national and county governments to develop more adventure recreation infrastructure and upgrade the existing ones.