The Impact of Refugees on the Natural Resource Environment in Africa: A case study of Kenya

Many refugee hosting countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experience long-term environmental impacts. The presence of refugee settlements in Northern Kenya has been associated with the environmental and natural resource degradation. This research focused on the impact of refugees on the woodland, water and land resources in Kenya's refugee affected areas, notably Kakuma and Dadaab. The study methodology included a review of the existing literature (i.e. secondary data sources) on the environmental and natural resource impacts associated with the refugees. The research highlighted that the large refugee and host populations in Kakuma and Dadaab has been associated with the following environmental impacts: (i) deforestation and firewood depletion, (ii) land degradation, (iii) unsustainable groundwater extraction, and (iv) water depletion and pollution. Reasons for refugee impacts on the natural resource environment of their hosting areas can be presented in three generalized hypotheses: first, and most obviously, the arrival of refugees could cause a rapid increase in population/resource ratios, which cannot be accommodated within existing resource management strategies; second, refugees might be forced by their poverty to engage in exceptionally unsustainable or resource-degrading practices; or third, refugees might ignore local community-level regulatory practices which are important for sustainable resource use. In mitigating the degradation of environment and natural resources in the Kenya's refugee hosting areas, stakeholders (i.e. UNHCR, refugees and hosts) have initiated the following measures: waste disposal and recycling programs, the use of fuel-efficient stoves, afforestation nurseries and green belts, and drilling of new boreholes. If no appropriate attention is given for the regeneration of natural resource environment in the refugee hosting areas of Kenya, the pressure on the resources will continue and it will lead to environmental conflicts and further scarcity of the ecologically, economically and culturally valuable resources.