Combating Desertification in Kenya - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 133

in arid and semi-arid lands has also substantially reduced access to alternate wet
and dry season grazing areas for the pastoralists.

• Strategies to combat desertification are faced with many challenges, which

include lack of general education and awareness with perceptions varying widely
among stakeholders, climatic constraints, limited expertise in various fields, lim-
ited financial resources and mechanisms, poverty which is acute in most affected
areas and inappropriate and/or inadequate policies and coordination mechanisms.
Effective prevention of desertification requires both local management and macro
policy approaches that promote sustainability of ecosystem services. Measures to
arrest and reverse desertification are tailored to the local circumstance. The most
effective are those that work with local communities.

Keywords Resources utilization • Land degradation • Desertification • Success
story • Local involvement • Wildlife • Stakeholders • Pests and diseases of
livestock • Ecosystem services • Red meat • Rural livelihoods

1 Introduction

1.1 Profile of Kenya

Kenya lies on the eastern coast of the African continent, between latitudes 5 ı 40 0
north and 4 ı 4 0 south and between longitudes 33 ı 50 0 and 41 ı 45 0 east. The Equator
bisects the country into two almost equal parts. Total land area is approximately
590,000 km 2 . Most of the country lies within the eastern end of the Sudano-Sahelian
belt, a region often affected by drought and desertification in Africa. Kenya has
diverse landforms ranging from the coastal plains through the dry Nyika plateau
to the savanna grasslands and the highlands on either side of the Rift Valley.
Mount Kenya, the Mau Ranges, Mount Elgon and the Aberdare Range dominate
the highlands that are traversed by the Great Rift Valley. The vast expanse of
northwestern, northern, eastern and southern parts of Kenya varies from flat semi-
desert in the east to the more rugged country west of Lake Turkana. The coastal
region is narrower in the south but widens out in the north with an altitude range of
0-400 m above sea level. Mountains and hills, including the Taita Hills and Chyulu
range mark the western limits of the coastal region. The Nyika Plateau and the
Coastal Region are the areas mainly affected and threatened by desertification.

1.2 Climate

Physiography to a large extent influences rainfall potential and subsequently,
water resources. For instance, the topographic heights determine the windward
and leeward side with the former having more rainfall. For example, the flanks