ABSTRACT In Kenya, the forest ecosystem has undergone such considerable degradation that the country’s forest cover is only 3% of the total land area, way below the internationally recommended level of 10% cover. From independence, only the government was involved in forest management. Despite this, the country’s forest cover continued to deteriorate. To stem this decline, the Kenyan Government enacted the Forests Act, 2005, which allows for the participation of both government and commun...
ABSTRACT The study was on woodcarving and basket weaving handicrafts among the Kamba community in Wamunyu and Katangi locations of Mwala District of former Machakos District in Kenya. It examined the extent to which the two practices have impacted on the raw materials used in the production of the respective crafts. A total of 200 craftspeople (100 woodcarvers and 100 basket weavers) participated in the survey. These were purposively sampled for the reason that in each location, the target re...
ABSTRACT Urban agriculture plays a significant role in national development by contributing towards food security, employment creation, poverty alleviation, and ecologising the “artificial” urban systems. However, it is associated with diverse negative impacts to people and the biophysical environment. Further, though generally illegal in Kenya, the practice continues unabated, being a survival strategy for the low income bracket. This study aimed at assessing its status with view of enco...
ABSTRACT Low crop yields due to low erratic rainfall, high evapotranspiration, and deteriorating soil fertility in smallholder farmers‘ fields of sub-Saharan Africa have led to a quest for sustainable production practices with greater resource use efficiency. To alleviate water stress, soil fertility decline and reduce runoff, water harvesting technologies and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) are alternative promising options whose impact on agricultural productivity are not yet ...
ABSTRACT Living sustainably is apparently the ultimate objective in the cosmos for the resilience of all biotic and abiotic phenomena. Paradoxically, sustainable lifestyles envisaged in sustainable development goals (SDGs), are almost an unfeasible end. Consumption of unrecorded alcohol is hypothesized in this study to be a major inhibitor to attainment of sustainable lifestyles. This study therefore, conducted in Embu County at Shauri “Yako,” sought to find out the effects of consumption...
ABSTRACT Harvesting of rainwater is a strategy which primarily benefits the local human livelihoods and ecosystems. Ruai has gone through development boom and densitification, increased infrastructure such as roads, both single and multi dwellings leading to changes in the physical characteristic of the area hence increased surface run-off. Further Ruai and its environs are flat hence encouraging flooding .There has been a range of incidences of flooding in the area causing loss of property, ...
ABSTRACT Studies have documented many negative social, economic and environmental implications of tobacco farming. Tobacco farming puts an extra stress on ecosystems and causes specific health and socio-economic problems for poor populations engaged in the activity. Through research, environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative crops to tobacco farming such as soya beans, watermelons, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, cabbages, among others, have been identified. However, the rate and ...
ABSTRACT The Eastern province of Rwanda is highly populated. This has led to continuous cropping systems without addition of external fertilizers to compensate losses due to removal of grains and residues through harvesting. In such conditions, soil fertility decline is a major factor limiting per capita crop production in the area. It is quite difficult for smallholder farmers to afford to buy and apply adequate quantities of mineral fertilizers and organic sources, making it difficult for t...
ABSTRACT Climate variability has a negative impact on crop productivity and has affected many small-holder farmers in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). Small-holder farmers in the study area are faced with the constraint of climate variability and have consequently made effort at the local level to utilize indigenous knowledge (IK) in addition to conventional knowledge to mitigate the impacts of the variability. However, documentation of the IK indicators is limited. This study was theref...
ABSTRACT Cassava is an important food crop in small-holder farming systems in DR. Congo. Due to the limited use of organic and inorganic inputs, soil fertility becomes a major problem in cassava production systems. Inorganic inputs for small-holder farmers are often too expensive to apply at optimal rates and combining use of organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs is a suitable management principle for small-holder farmers. A study involving 15 households was carried out in DR. Congo with th...
ABSTRACT Sand harvesting is a common economic activity globally and has environmental effects on the riparian land as well as the quality of the river water the activity is carried out. The associated environmental and water quality challenges pose environmental and health risks to the community and the aquatic life. This study was conducted between May and September, 2016 and was aimed at assessing the physico-chemical quality of water in River Thwake and the socio-economic impacts of sand h...
One of the main goals of this study is to provide a comfortable study environment. The quest for comfortable useable and livable space is the reason for the creation of a new field in science called “Thermal Comfort”. The global problems of Architectural models of Hot and Dry tropical environment can best be addressed by the introduction of passive control systems for thermal comfort. The question becomes: how much comfort up to date could do this scientific responsibility? This resear...
ABSTRACT Recently, Nigeria witnessed unstable exchange rate, currency devaluation, high cost of fund e.t.c, which were attributable to the current global economic recession. As a result of the recession, real estate development in Enugu Urban was equally affected and it became impossible to access development funds due to scarcity and high cost of fund. Meanwhile, most existing studies on the subject tend to concentrate on the demand side of the effects of the economic recession on real esta...
Climate change is acknowledged in Kenya hence innovations that may help to increase the availability of water are of major importance. The purpose of this study was to assess rainfall variability and use of rainwater harvesting technologies as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Baringo County Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: (i) analyze rainfall trends in agro-ecological zones: Lower Midlands 5 (LM 5), Inner Lowland (IL 6) and Lower highland (LH 2); (ii) estab...
Pastoralism has been the main livelihood option in Mandera County for many decades, but currently it has faced many challenges due to shortage of pasture arising from land degradation and frequent droughts brought about by climate change. This has caused loss of animals leading to food insecurity, high poverty rates, and a necessity to diversify to other non-livestock livelihoods. This study aimed at identifying, documenting and analyzing the contribution of livelihood options on the soc...