ABSTRACT Mount Kenya Reserve is vital to the livelihood of the local populations who revere it. The forest reserve is of vital ecological, economic and environmental importance and is recognized as a world heritage site. The forest reserve serves as a water catchment reservoir for nearly a third of Kenya‟s population and feeds the country‟s largest River Tana, which in turn supports hydro electric plants that provide more than 50% of the country‟s electricity. The forest reserve is curr...
ABSTRACT Human activites have shaped the world over the years. Survival instincts prompted early man to explore his immediate natural surroundings and try many plants, animal products and minerals to develop a variety of therapeutical agents. W.H.O currently encourages, recommends and promotes research and inclusion of herbal drugs into national health care programmes. Indiscriminate destruction of forests and wood lands has led to reducing biodiversity that is increasingly causing disappear...
ABSTRACT Poverty has often been seen as a purely rural problem but for many developing countries, the pervasive nature of urban poverty constitutes an enormous challenge for policy makers and in development efforts. Poverty reduction tools and approaches that have been developed for rural poverty reduction cannot be replicated in urban areas because urban poverty is different in nature from rural poverty hence, understanding the nature of urban poverty as well as having accurate data that pr...
ABSTRACT Forests cover approximately 30% of the earth‘s land surface area and provide critical ecosystem goods and services to mankind. However, forest cover in Kenya is among the lowest in the world, currently at around 7.6%. The Mau Forest Complex is the largest water tower in Kenya, but is threatened because of land use change and rapid human population growth in the adjoining areas. The overall objective of this study was to assess community attitudes and perception towards conservatio...
ABSTRACT About 90% of Kenya's rural population relies on wood fuel to meet their daily cooking energy needs. The consequences of over reliance on biomass energy are far reaching with adverse effects on the economic, social and environmental spheres of sustainability. Animals are an important source of food and income for many rural people, but their manure is a source of one of the world‟s most potent greenhouse gases. Turning manure into biogas, as an alternative source of energy has not ...
ABSTRACT The Mau Forests Complex (MFC) is considered the most important of the five main watershed areas in Kenya because of its economic, social and environmental contribution to the country. The forest is under increasing threat from irregular and ill‐planned settlements, encroachments and illegal forest resource exploitation. In recent years, the Government of Kenya (GoK) has taken significant steps towards addressing the threat of rapid ecological degradation of its forest resources. A...
ABSTRACT Dust pollution in quarries pose various health risks to the workers including respiratory ailments, skin and eye problems. Depending on the chemical composition and the concentration of the dust, the workers are exposed to inhalation of silica bearing dust thus being at risk of developing silicosis, a fatal lung disease. Information on the chemical composition of the quarry dust is important as it forms a vital baseline for among others the detection of the undesirable health effects...
ABSTRACT At a time of rising food insecurity and high rates of poverty as a result of drought, rural communities have to find alternative means of livelihoods apart from crop and livestock agriculture which are susceptible to drought. Woodcarving is one of the sole most important alternative forms of livelihood in the rural areas. Despite documented potential benefits of high value markets and value addition, wood carved products are majorly produced and marketed locally with or no value ad...
ABSTRACT Climate change is a real phenomenon whose effects ought to be mitigated, based on assessments that are informed by scientific evidence. Trees in agricultural landscapes play a significant role in mitigating climate change hence a robust inventory of tree biomass in these landscapes is essential for the accurate estimation of their potential in sequestering carbon. Therefore, applicable allometric equations that yield accurate biomass estimates of trees in agricultural landscapes are...
ABSTRACT Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum, is a major horticultural crop grown in many areas in Kenya. The main constraint to tomato production is insect pests with farmers relying heavily on chemical pesticides to control them. This has led to several problems such as contamination of farm produce and pollution of the environment among others. There is need therefore need for alternative methods to control insect pests. A study was carried out in Mwea region of Kirinyaga County to assess the...
ABSTRACT Management of wastes – industrial or otherwise – is a primary step in safeguarding human health. The media, with its agenda-setting role, is important in as far as highlighting the health hazards of poor management of waste is concerned. This study, therefore, focuses on the media and the management of industrial discharge in Nairobi. The objectives of the study were: to determine the volumes of effluent waste emissions by industries; evaluation of industrial effluent discharge a...
ABSTRACT Electricity services are crucial for human well-being and to a country‘s socio-economic development. Despite its importance, low levels of electricity adoption and use continue to prevail in most rural areas in SSA. Low socio-economic development has been attributed among others factors, to lack of modern energy sources especially electricity among households, which has been identified as a major setback in propelling empowerment and development at household and community level. Th...
ABSTRACT Availability and accessibility of safe water is key to sustainable livelihoods in the world hence, poverty eradication and good health leading to agricultural and economic prosperity. Poor water availability and accessibility is a pressing problem in developing countries in Africa, therefore, understanding of water as a natural resource and human consumption commodity can help solve the problem and contribute to achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Kenya is a water sc...
ABSTRACT Atomic collision cross sections are of interest because they can show the collision dynamics involved in the scattering process. There has been an upsurge in interest on positron collision processes due to recent advancement in positron beam experiments. In these studies, alkali metal atoms receive preference due to their simple electronic structure and spectra. We have calculated differential cross-sections, integral cross-sections, lambda (λ) parameter and the alignment parameter ...
ABSTRACT Conservation projects can improve the livelihoods of community members as well as tackle climate change. Kipepeo project is a butterfly farming project initiated in 1993 to provide a means of livelihood for the communities living around Arabuko Sokoke Forest and also to conserve the forest. The study was carried out to assess the impacts of Kipepeo conservation project on livelihoods of local community and on climate change mitigations in Arabuko Sokoke Forest in Kilifi County, ...