Analysis of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2010 in Reconciling Chang’aa Distillation with Climate Change in Vihiga County, Kenya

Non-commercial Alcoholic production predates history and influence global religious, socio-cultural and economic realms of life. It largely includes chang’aa in Kenya and accounts for social violence but its effect on pollution and climate change is least explored. The Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2010, initiative to manage chang’aa distillation in Kenya had achieved little. This paper posits that the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2010 could help reconcile chang’aa distillation with climate change in Vihiga County, Kenya. Specific objectives to the study were to establish the: pollutants released during chang’aa distillation; relationships between chang’aa distillation and pollution; influence of chang’aa distillation on pollution and; the relationship between chang’aa distillation and enforcement of the Alcoholic Control Act, 2010. A questionnaire and digital camera administered to a sample of 100 snowballed chang’aa distillers provided primary data, complemented with secondary data. Person’s correlation and logistic regression were used to analyse data. Results reveal that Carbon dioxide (38%) and plastics (29%) were most notorious waste generated and disclose a moderate positive (0.410^* at P<0.05 level) relationship between chang’aa distillation and pollution. Besides, Binary logistic regression model reveal that chang’aa distillation accounted for 93.56% (at P<0.01 level) pollution at the distillation venues. Finally, Pearson’s correlation reports a weak negative (-0.191^** at P<0.01 level) relationship between the enforcement of the Alcoholic Control Act, 2009 and chang’aa distillation. It was concluded that chang’aa distillation oriented pollutants exacerbated climate change hence the Act should be restructured to harmonise chang’aa distillation and climate change.