Nature’s Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being integrates spatial data on poverty and the environment

in Kenya, providing a new approach to examining the links between ecosystem services (the benefits derived from nature)

and the poor. This publication focuses on the environmental resources

most Kenyans rely on to earn their livelihoods, such as soil, water, forest,

rangeland, livestock, and wildlife. The atlas overlays georeferenced

statistical information on population and household expenditures with

This report provides a new approach to integrating spatial data on poverty and ecosystems in Kenya. It is endorsed by five permanent secretaries in Kenya and with a foreword by Wangari Maathai (recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize). It provides a new approach to examining the links between ecosystem services (the benefits derived from nature) and the poor. Through a series of maps and analyses, the authors focus on the environmental resources most Kenyans rely on such as soil, water, forest, rangeland, livestock, and wildlife.

This leaflet describes one method of rainwater harvesting – using hoops. This method is particularly suited to pasture production in dry areas.

Soil microbial biomass is considered as an important early indicator of changes that may occur
in the long term with regard to soil fertility and constitutes an important source and sink of nutrients. In
South Africa, rangeland monitoring has mostly focused on assessing changes of aboveground vegetation
in response to land uses effects, but the associated changes at belowground soil level remain a topic of
further research. The aim of this study was to explore soil microbial biomass at three sites under

The research and development community faces the challenge of sustaining crop productivity gains, improving rural livelihoods and securing environmental sustainability in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). This calls for a better understanding of farming systems and of rural livelihoods, particularly with the advent of, and strong advocacy for, conservation farming and resource-conserving technologies.

Years of concerted activism to bring awareness of climate change and its consequences to the fore of global concerns are finally yielding dividends. Until recently, most climate change activity focused on medium- to long-term projections regarding the nature and trajectory of change processes. With the uncertainties inherent in long-term climate projections and the difficulty of building political and economic momentum from hypothetical future scenarios, progress was slow.

Livestock systems in developing countries are characterised by rapid change, driven by factors such as population growth, increases in the demand for livestock products as incomes rise, and urbanisation. Climate change is adding to the considerable development challenges posed by these drivers of change. How can livestock keepers take advantage of the increasing demand for livestock products, where this is feasible, and how can the livestock assets of the poor be protected in the face of changing and increasingly variable climates?

The research and development community faces the challenge of sustaining crop productivity gains, improving rural livelihoods and securing environmental sustainability in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). This calls for a better understanding of farming systems and of rural livelihoods, particularly with the advent of, and strong advocacy for, conservation farming and resource-conserving technologies.

The main objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of select environmental management systems through improvements in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and processes.