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Library Nature Benefits in Kenya: an Atlas of Ecosystem and Human Well-Being

Nature Benefits in Kenya: an Atlas of Ecosystem and Human Well-Being

Nature Benefits in Kenya: an Atlas of Ecosystem and Human Well-Being

Resource information

Date of publication
December 2007
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
handle:10568/1053
License of the resource

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

spatial data on ecosystems and their services (water availability, wood

supply, wildlife populations, and the like) to yield a picture of how

land, people, and prosperity are related in Kenya.

In Kenya’s national development plans, improving the health and

prosperity of Kenyan families while also safeguarding the natural

environment and the many important economic and spiritual benefits

it provides are identified as top priorities. Attaining these multiple development

goals means that policymakers and civil society groups need

to access information and analysis on the numerous interconnections

among environmental resources, human well-being, and economic

expansion. The maps and analyses presented in this atlas are a first

attempt to provide such information.

This information can be used in developing poverty reduction

programs and in designing policies for water resources management,

agriculture production, biodiversity preservation, and charcoal

production, among others. The maps and analyses presented here

will not provide easy answers to questions concerning the causes of

poverty in Kenya and how ecosystems can best be managed to increase

economic growth and improve livelihoods. But they are a first step

toward stimulating more informed dialogue and provoking questions

for which answers may be found. With up-to-date data and additional

analyses, the implementation of Kenya’s Economic Recovery Strategy

(and its successor strategy) can be targeted to specific geographic areas

of the country, focusing on the poor, and making better use of Kenya’s

natural resources.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Okwi, P.
Ndeng'e, G.
Agatsiva, J.
Kilele, X.
Said, M.Y.

Data Provider
Geographical focus