Excellent Development has had some great news recently - our work in Kenya is being used as part of a worldwide scoping study looking at the links between poverty and ecosystem management. The study is being jointly funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Envrionment Research Council (NERC). The African section of the study is looking at semi-arid ecosystems in South Africa, Kenya and Niger. The aim of the study is to collect feedback from stakeholders at all levels regarding the connections between good environmental management and poverty reduction. In 2008, the three agencies are planning to initiate a five-year research programme into the impacts that sustainable environmental management can have on poverty reduction. The scoping study will guide the prioritisation of research themes in the main programme, and is taking place between September 2007 and February 2008.
Our key partner in this work is Mike Mortimore who, in the early 1990s, did a classic research study in Machakos, Kenya called “More People, Less Erosion”. His interest in the impact of sand dams and our holistic model led him to choose Excellent Development as a case study for this latest project. In October 2007, he visited two communities in the areas where we work, to ask them about their views on the relative importance of different environmental conditions to their livelihoods. He brought with him Prof. Charles Nzioka from Nairobi University, who was very impressed with the social impacts of Excellent Development’s work. Their findings will be combined with research from national and international agencies working on dryland issues, to produce a final report in February 2008. Excellent Development’s Executive Director, Simon Maddrell, will be attending the stakeholder meeting in January to provide his input into the final report.
Simon remarked “I am delighted to see these large research agencies addressing the links between conservation and development. I am particularly pleased to be working with Mike Mortimore and hope we can contribute to a greater understanding of the issues faced by farmers in semi-arid environments. The proposed research plan is exactly in line with our strategic objectives – that of advocating greater use of environmental conservation in semi-arid areas as a route to poverty alleviation.”
