Challenging Poverty in a Healthy Environment: Local Communities Living along Mtwapa Creek, Kenya

Abstract

A Gallup poll released by the local Daily Nation Newspaper on 2ath April 2011 revealed that Kenyans are among the unhappy people in the world with many of them struggling to survive. Out of 124 countries in the world, Kenya was ranked 13th among the countries with the largest number of people who are dissatisfied with their lifestyle. A good number of locals are bracing themselves for the adverse effects of the current high rate of population growth coupled with the results of climate change (that are further worsened by human activities), by attempting to come up with alternative and diversified livelihoods that ensure conservation of the environment. This work outlines a case study of how the youth and women living along Mtwapa creek are working round the ecological clock to fend for their daily basic needs whilst conserving the environment. In this paper, we share the experiences and the results obtained from the authors' personal contact with the local communities backed up by desktop reviews.