Connecting Poverty and Ecosystem Services: Focus on Kenya
Ecosystems provide more than the resources needed for material welfare and livelihoods. In addition to supporting all life and regulating natural systems, they specifically provide health and cultural benefits to people. Moreover, their loss is a significant barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to reduction of poverty, hunger and disease. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), released in 2005, reported, though, that 15 of the 23 ecosystem services assessed were being degraded or used unsustainably.
In light of these findings, these seven country scoping studies set out to provide a preliminary overview of ecosystem services in each country and the corresponding constituents and determinants of well-being related to the availability of these services. These studies were prepared by the International Institute for Sustainable Development for the United Nations Environment Programme. Countries examined in this series are Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
You might also be interested in
Moving Beyond GDP Through Comprehensive Wealth
An analysis of wealth in three countries shows how GDP gives policy-makers and people a misleading story of progress—and why we must shift indicators.
Comprehensive Wealth in Trinidad and Tobago
The compilation of comprehensive wealth measures for Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2020 reveals unsettling trends that GDP keeps invisible.
Comprehensive Wealth in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has made progress in expanding its comprehensive wealth despite social, economic, and environmental challenges—but there is room for growth.
Comprehensive Wealth in Indonesia
A comprehensive wealth report for Indonesia reveals aspects of the country's development that are invisible through the lens of GDP growth alone.