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.