Environmental Challenge

KENYA:

In Kenya’s semi-arid regions, low rainfall, recurring drought and shallow, barren soil devastate traditional crops. Because families cannot earn enough from their farms, they must extract wealth from the environment to survive. Driven by poverty, families cut down indigenous trees to sell as firewood and cooking charcoal, bringing their land and livelihood closer to the brink of disaster. Today, Kenya faces one of the highest levels of deforestation in the world.

In semi-arid regions, no trees means scorched earth. Bare soil dries, cracks and is washed away by rain. Degraded land exacerbates food shortages while drought grows more frequent and desertification spreads. On a global level, disappearing forests imperil water supplies and threaten agricultural productivity. Deforestation is also a major contributor to climate change, representing 20 percent of all carbon emissions. A recent report from the European Commission estimates that $2-5 trillion is lost each year from global GDP due to unsustainable deforestation, dwarfing the recent banking crisis.

Ultimately, as the land grows more and more infertile, families like Fedis and her children will have no means to support themselves.