ABSTRACT Post-harvest fisheries activities have been cited as contributors to environmental degradation. The current sanitary situation in urban fish markets is worrying and present threats to the public health and the surrounding environment. The research aimed to investigate and understand how the fish trader’s activities influence the environmental situation in fish markets. A descriptive survey design was used for the research. The target for the study was the fish traders of Gikomba fi...
ABSTRACT Commercial oil and gas was discovered in Kenya in 2012. Few academic studies have been done on the effects of the mentioned discovery to the environment.The oil and gas resources are expected to transform the economic wellbeing of the locals and the nation at large.However,land degradation, environmental pollution and socio-economic problems have always ensued oil and gas exporation ventures globally.This study aimed at determining the effects of oil and gas exploration on biophysica...
ABSTRACT Yushania alpina formerly known as Arundinaria alpina is the only species of native bamboo indigenous forests in Kenya. It plays an integral part in the indigenous forests in which it occurs. Bamboo is a fast growing, renewable, widespread, low cost, environment enhancing resource with great potential in environmental conservation and poverty alleviation. The lack of rules surrounding bamboo exploitation in Kenya has resulted in unsustainable harvesting and utilization of bamboo. Ther...
ABSTRACT French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important crop with high impact on rural employment and livelihood. In Kenya, the crop is grown for export by small scale farmers in high potential areas of Central, Rift valley and Western regions. These regions are densely populated leading to intensive farming and land fragmentation, which research has reported to be among the major threats of bee pollinators. However, amongst the known constraints, pollination has not featured amidst man...
ABSTRACT In Sub-Saharan Africa, acidic soils occupy 29% of the total area, while about 13% of the Kenyan total land area has acidic soils, widely distributed in croplands of the central regions. The high soil acidity coupled with soil nutrient depletion negatively affect performance and yields of maize in the region. This study was therefore carried out at Kirege in Tharaka Nithi County for two cropping seasons; short rains (SR) in 2016 and long rains (LR) in 2017 to determine the effects of ...
ABSTRACT The rapid increase in traffic intensity, axle loading, rigorous climatic changes and commercial road transport continues to impose severe demands of load and environment on the highway system. Bitumen mostly used as a binder for road construction, waterproofing agent, coating, and insulation among others has poor mechanical and thermal properties. Different synthetic binder modifies that are being used to improved performance lead to environmental pollution during disposal. Therefore...
ABSTRACT Contamination of fresh water sources with heavy metals found within the agricultural areas is largely contributed by amongst other factors, application of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. Removal of heavy metals from the contaminated waters using conventional methods is cost prohibitive and more importantly less effective especially when concentration of heavy metals is low. As a result, use of alternative technologies such as phytoremediation is being promoted. Phytoremediation...
ABSTRACT The world population was at 7.3 billion people in 2015, and is projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion people in 2100. Population in the developing countries which Kenya is part of is expected to rise from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050 to 9.6 billion in 2100. Increasing human population and the threats posed by climate change continue to put pressure on the already limited environmental resources that support life on earth. This is evident in the case of ...
ABSTRACT Geothermal energy could be Climate Change Resilient subject to technological interventions employed in production. Kenya seeks to safeguard herself from Climate Change and its cascading impacts through clean energy sources such as Geothermal. Possible interventions to Climate Change entail adaptation, mitigation and building resilience. Most geothermal resources are located in fragile yet vital ecosystems including Olkaria and Eburru where the study focused on. A benign geothermal t...
ABSTRACT Climate change poses a danger to the current and the future generations. Sad to note though is the fact that although developing countries have contributed the least to the current mess, they will be more impacted due to their limited technology to adapt to the consequences. As a remedy to the current situation, formal education has been identified as a major tool of passing the required knowledge, skills and changing people’s attitude towards climate change. However, most edu...
ABSTRACT French bean is the most important export vegetable crop cultivated in Kenya. Pests and diseases are the major constrains to its production. The major pests of French beans are bean flies, thrips, and bean aphids. Amongst these pests, thrips are the most notorious and account for 63 – 68% yield loss of fresh marketable pods. Frankliniella occidentalis is the most widespread thrips species which has developed resistance to the commonly used synthetic pesticides. Farmers rely heavily ...
ABSTRACT River Nyangores experiences an all year round forage detrital input with previously unknown breakdown fate. Determination of in-situ processing coefficients of forage allochthonous detritus is important as it provides critical indication on: the level of biochemical oxygen demand, the rate at which food nutrients are distributed downstream, monitoring ecological changes in the aquatic ecosystem and as a climate change mitigation response for riparian forage agriculture. The study was...
Abstract Information on seed germination of trees is important as it forms a vital baseline for among other information on the germination of indigenous seedlings which take many years to germinate. The study was carried out to find out the effect of different light intensities and growth hormone on the propagation of Ocotea usambarensis Engl.The study was carried out for a period of three months (August to October 2010). The objective of the study was to determine the best propagation method...
ABSTRACT Climate change is a major challenge of mankind in the 21st century. While climate change existed even in the pre-industrial era, recent trends exacerbated by human activities have raised global concern that climate change is threatening the achievement of sustainable development. While effects of climate change have been experienced all over the world, developing countries will be hardest hit because this is where millions of the world‟s poorest people are already being forced to c...
ABSTRACT Increased demand for tree products has raised demand for tree production and need for site matching. The main aim of this study was to explore tree seed sources and determine the influence of seed distribution to site matching. The specific objectives were (i) to determine the main category of tree seed source relied for seed production by formal and informal sectors; (ii) seed tree abundance in each category of tree seed sources within two study sites; (iii) to determine the influen...