Kenya on Monday committed to reverse the growing trend of land degradation amid climate change threats.
Mamo Boru Mamo, director general of National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) said in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya that one significant issue facing the nation is land and environmental degradation, which is predicted to cost the economy 390 million U.S. dollars annually, or three percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
“Land degradation not only reduces productivity but also contributes to socioeconomic problems like food shortages, water scarcity, and frequent animal losses,” Mamo said during the National Stakeholder Forum on Sustainable Rangeland Management Project that was organized jointly with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Selly Kimosop, Environment Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry said that Kenya is keen to mitigate unintentional adverse land degradation since it has an impact on the nation’s agricultural sector, natural resource base, and eco-environmental balances.
He revealed that the country, has already made huge strides in ensuring that the integrity of diverse ecosystems is protected and conserved through ratification of a number of international Conventions, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)