East African Journal of Environment and Natural Resources

Towards a Sustainable City: Dynamics and Challenges of Urban Farming in Eldoret, Kenya

George Omusotsi Okusimba, Emmanuel Chessum Kipkorir, Job Kipkurgat Ng’etich — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:34:38 +0000

Rapid urbanisation, high population growth, and accelerated development are posing sustainability challenges to secondary cities like Eldoret, especially in the areas of food security and nutrition, despite the urban population’s active involvement in urban farming. As such, this research aimed at identifying the dynamics, motivations, and challenges of urban farming in Eldoret city with the goal of ensuring the sustainability of economic outcomes, social outcomes, and environmental outcomes. A mixed research design was adopted with data collection, both quantitative and qualitative, through household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. The findings reveal that 96% of the households practice urban agriculture, with 12% relying on it as the main source of livelihood. Home gardens are the main type of urban farming, with 49% of respondents practising, while the main challenges reported were limited space (24%), livestock and crop diseases (17%), water scarcity (15%), and expensive farm inputs (14%). The key motivations for practising urban farming are to reduce food costs (36%), supplement food (28%), and as a source of income (14%). Despite the challenges, the urban farmers have devised strategies to cope-research and training; control of weeds, pests, and diseases; timely purchase and utilization of farm inputs; and effective water management are some of the strategies. The challenges, not adopting modern urban farming practices and a vacuum in the policy framework, present a situation where the economic, social, and environmental sustainability outcomes are likely to be stifled, hence impacting negatively on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 3, and 11 by 2030.

Environmental Stewardship for Sustainable Development: A Multi-Sectoral Review

Mohamed Mohamud Hussein, Victoria Wairimu Mwangi — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:50:17 +0000

Environmental stewardship has gained prominence as a dynamic and integrative approach to addressing the mounting challenges of sustainable development. As the world grapples with ecological degradation, climate change, biodiversity loss, and persistent social inequalities, stewardship has emerged as a critical paradigm for fostering long-term environmental and societal well-being. This paper offers a comprehensive synthesis of environmental stewardship by reviewing and analysing twenty-one peer-reviewed sources, institutional reports, and conceptual contributions published between 2008 and 2025. Drawing from Social Ecological Systems (SES) theory and Environmental Governance theory, the study identifies six key thematic domains that define contemporary stewardship practice: conceptual foundations, community-driven initiatives, corporate and industrial engagement, financial and governance mechanisms, ethical and spiritual imperatives, and innovation through entrepreneurship. Through a structured literature review, the paper examines how stewardship manifests across different actors, sectors, and scales. It reveals how individuals, communities, businesses, and institutions contribute uniquely to environmental care, and how their efforts are often shaped by cultural values, institutional capacity, economic structures, and governance arrangements. The findings show that while stewardship holds transformative potential, its application remains fragmented and uneven, often constrained by power asymmetries, resource limitations, and a lack of policy coherence. The analysis culminates in a multilevel framework that integrates stewardship practices across five interconnected levels: individual, community, institutional, corporate, and systemic. The paper concludes with actionable recommendations for embedding stewardship principles into education, governance, finance, and policy. It calls for inclusive participation, knowledge co-creation, and stronger institutional alignment to move stewardship from aspirational rhetoric to grounded practice. This study contributes to ongoing efforts to reimagine sustainability through ethical, participatory, and adaptive strategies that align with both local realities and global imperatives.

Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Variables of River Water Quality in River Thanantu Sub-Catchment

Daniel Munene Kaibiru, Mary Makokha, PhD, Kennedy Obiero, PhD — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:51:01 +0000

Agrochemicals are widely used to boost agricultural productivity, yet their intensive and often indiscriminate application has become a major contributor to water pollution, threatening aquatic ecosystems, public health, and sustainable resource use. In Kenya, rivers traversing agricultural landscapes are increasingly vulnerable to contamination from pesticides and fertilisers. This study evaluates the physical and chemical variables of river water quality in the river Thanantu sub-catchment, in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. The study employed an experimental research design. Water samples were collected from three sites upstream, tributary, and confluence, identified using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. Sampling was carried out in both wet and dry seasons between October 2024 and April 2025 to capture seasonal variations. Duplicate water samples were collected and subjected to standard laboratory procedures for analysing turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), temperature, pH, nitrates, and total phosphorus. Agricultural practices within the sub-catchment were also assessed through questionnaires administered to farmers, key informant interviews with agricultural officers and community leaders, and transect walks for field observations. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and regression analysis to test for spatial and seasonal differences. Water quality analysis showed significant seasonal variation, with higher turbidity values (14.1 NTU upstream, 22.6 NTU tributary, and 30.9 NTU downstream) and elevated TSS levels (65.72 mg/L in the dry season and 111.23 mg/L in the wet season). Nutrient concentrations also differed significantly across seasons, with total nitrogen (p = 0.008) and total phosphorus (p = 0.038) being higher during the wet season due to increased surface runoff. The study concluded that intensive agrochemical use is a key driver of water quality degradation in the Thanantu sub-catchment, with impacts exacerbated during the wet season. Current river pollution management strategies are inadequate to address the problem. It is recommended that the County Government, in collaboration with national agencies, implement integrated agrochemical management programs, strengthen enforcement of environmental regulations, and promote farmer awareness on sustainable practices. Longitudinal monitoring of pesticide residues in water, sediments, and aquatic organisms is also necessary to track cumulative impacts and inform evidence-based interventions.

Remote Sensing Applications in Wetland Conservation and Management: A Literature Review

Kingsley Chika Chukwu, Kamayirese Beata, Iyakare Egide, Matha Auslane — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:25:11 +0000

Wetlands, dynamic interfaces between land and water, serve as biodiversity hotspots and vital providers of ecosystem services, including water purification, flood control and carbon sequestration. However, rapid degradation from urbanisation, agriculture and resource extraction necessitates urgent and effective conservation strategies. This literature review synthesises global studies from 1999 to 2023 to evaluate the role of remote sensing technology in wetland conservation and management. Using a systematic literature review approach, peer-reviewed articles were selected based on their application of satellite imagery, aerial photography, LiDAR, SAR, object-based image analysis (OBIA) and machine learning techniques for wetland mapping, monitoring and management. The analysis reveals that remote sensing enables accurate boundary delineation, wetland-type identification and long-term change detection, with hybrid optical-SAR-LiDAR approaches and Random Forest classifiers consistently achieving the highest accuracy. Continuous monitoring effectively tracks land-cover shifts, vegetation health and hydrological dynamics, while integration with multi-criteria decision tools (AHP-TOPSIS) supports conservation prioritisation. Results highlight significant advancements in national-scale wetland mapping and predictive modelling of future loss, yet persistent gaps remain in satellite-ground data fusion, standardised classification systems, optimal temporal sampling and policy translation. The review concludes that remote sensing has become an indispensable, cost-effective tool for evidence-based wetland conservation worldwide, including in data-scarce regions like East Africa. Recommendations include: (1) adopting combined optical-radar-LiDAR workflows as standard practice, (2) developing regionally harmonised wetland classification frameworks, (3) promoting community-ground-truthed validation, (4) establishing open-access wetland monitoring platforms for Africa, and (5) strengthening collaboration between remote sensing experts, ecologists and policymakers to ensure research directly informs restoration and protection strategies.

River Continuum Water Quality Dynamics in the Dry Rangeland Landscape of Lake Elementaita Watershed, Nakuru County, Kenya

Francis Mwaura — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of the study was to compare the spatial variability of water quality in rivers within the Lake Elementaita watershed in the Great Rift Valley (GRV) and determine the: a) variation across the three rivers, b) magnitude of change along the river continuums and c) influence of river continuum length (distance), altitudinal gradient and catchment area. Water sampling and testing of sixteen parameters was undertaken in 55 sites in River Mbaruk (19 sites), River Chamuka (16 sites), Mbaruk-Chamuka confluence section (2 sites), River Kariandusi (10 sites) and Lake Elementaita (8 sites). This was undertaken through in-situ testing with a portable multi-parameter analyser (Hanna Model HI-98194) and laboratory analysis using a wide range of techniques, including titrimetric analysis, flame photometry and spectrophotometry. Thereafter, the values of pH, TDS, turbidity, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, calcium, and magnesium were used for computing the water quality index (WQI) along the three rivers. The findings showed significant water quality variation across the three catchments in relation to water pH, TDS, EC, alkalinity, Cl. and SO4, with a 60-100 fold increase in pH, TDS, EC, Cl. and SO4 from the headwaters to the downstream. The results of the Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated significant positive relationships for:- a) riverine continuum length with TDS, Cl, F- and Na, b) catchment area with pH, TDS, EC, alkalinity, Cl, F, PO4, SO4, Mg, Na and K, and c) inverse relationship for continuum altitudinal gradient with pH, EC, Cl, F- and PO4.

Environmental Education and Sustainability in Private Secondary Schools in Rubaga Division, Kampala City, Uganda

Nankumba Aminah, Nabukeera Madinah, PhD, Matovu Musa, PhD, Ssali Muhammad Bisaso — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:14:18 +0000

The study examined the effect of environmental education on environmental sustainability in private secondary schools in Rubaga Division, Kampala City. Specifically, the study aimed at examining the effect of environmental awareness, knowledge and skills on environmental sustainability. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design coupled with a quantitative approach. Linear regression analysis was utilised to provide empirical evidence on the effect of environmental education on environmental sustainability. The study population consisted of school administrators and teachers from the different selected private secondary schools in Rubaga Division. Findings revealed that there was a moderately positive significant relationship between environmental awareness and environmental sustainability; Beta = 0.408**, P-value = 0.000, less than 0.05. On the second objective, results showed a positive and significant relationship between environmental knowledge and environmental sustainability; Beta = 4.708**, P-value = 0.000, less than 0.05. Results on the third objective showed a positive significant relationship between environmental skills and environmental sustainability; Beta = 0.456**, P-value = 0.000. Therefore, it was concluded that environmental education, like environmental awareness, environmental knowledge, and environmental skills, has a substantial effect on environmental sustainability in private secondary schools in Rubaga Division, Kampala City. The study recommended that school administrators and other stakeholders should embed environmental topics in different subjects and also use project-based learning (such as community clean-ups, recycling initiatives) to make learning hands-on, as this would have a significant influence on environmental sustainability.

Land-Use Change and Small-Mammal Diversity in and Around African Mountain Forest Reserves: Consistent Loss of Habitat Specialists and Critical Gaps in Altitudinal, Long-Term, and Landscape-Scale Research- A Review

Atwijukye Dunstan, Turyahabwe Remigio, PhD, Isabirye Moses, PhD — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:22:02 +0000

Anthropogenic land-use change, such as agricultural intensification, selective logging, overgrazing, altered fire regimes, urbanisation, plantation forestry, and habitat fragmentation, have consistently favoured ecologically generalist small mammals while driving marked declines or local degradation of habitat-specialist species (particularly forest-dependent rodents and shrews) across Africa. This systematic review synthesised 37 independent field studies (2002–2021) and reveals a striking continent-wide pattern: natural and lightly disturbed habitats sustain higher small-mammal richness and specialist taxa, whereas intensive disturbance shifts assemblages toward a small set of generalist species, often with seasonal peaks tied to rainfall or crops. Despite this convergence, virtually all studies share the same critical methodological gaps: no altitudinal transects, no long-term (multi-year) monitoring, no landscape-connectivity or matrix-permeability analyses, limited multi-seasonal replication, and no assessment of population sustainability or resilience. Consequently, reported specialist declines may reflect temporary dispersal or seasonal lows rather than irreversible extinction, while the long-term viability of dominant generalists remains unknown. The current evidence base is therefore predominantly short-term and snapshot-based, severely limiting its predictive value for conservation under accelerating land-use and climate change. Robust future research requires routine incorporation of elevational gradients, multi-annual monitoring, landscape-scale connectivity analyses, full seasonal coverage, and explicit tests of population persistence to secure Africa’s small-mammal diversity