By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021*
Kenya has diverse blue resources which she can maximize to achieve sustainable livelihoods for its people and national economic development in general. This is in recognition of the fact that ‘there is a direct correlation between blue economy and livelihoods and food security’. While Kenya’s oceanic territory has vast resources that can assist Kenya grow economically, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, there exist challenges in harnessing these resources. There is need to critically analyze these challenges, how they can be surmounted in order to recommend measures within the policy, legal and institutional framework to assist Kenya effectively harness these resources to enable the country expand her economy and improve her people’s livelihoods through tapping into the enormous resources contained within its blue resources.
The United Nations Development Programme has observed that as far as exploitation of the blue resources is concerned, the Eastern Africa region faces challenges of illegal and unregulated fishing, piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, illicit trade in crude oil, arms, drug and human trafficking and smuggling of contraband goods; degradation of marine ecosystems through discharge of oil, the dumping of toxic waste, illegal sand harvesting and the destruction of coral reefs and coastal forests. Kenya also suffers from fragmented management of the coastal zone, lack of capacity and technical know-how, lack of capital, minimal participation by citizens, incoherent benefit sharing regime and biodiversity loss, amongst others.
Furthermore, Kenya is confronted with piracy in the Indian Ocean, illegal fishing and border disputes, the dispute with Somalia over the maritime boundary, over a potentially lucrative triangular stretch of 100,000 square kilometers offshore territory that is about 370 kilometers from the coastline, believed to be home to huge oil and gas deposits. Through these challenges, Kenya loses resources to foreign exploitation due to lack of capacity and knowhow as well as degraded and dwindling resources within its internal waters, attributable to environmental degradation. Notably, the country’s marine fisheries are primarily exploited by foreign fishing vessels which rarely land or declare their catches in the country, thus depriving the country of much needed revenue and processing jobs.
During the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC) 2018, there was emphasis on the need to improve the health of the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers and the ecosystems which are under increased threats and in decline in many countries and regions across the globe. Some of the threats highlighted include climate change, pollution and waste management, illegal activities at seas including illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, piracy and terrorism, destruction of marine ecosystems and management of resource in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The challenges facing exploitation of Kenya’s coastal and marine resources have also been highlighted in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Policy 2014 as follows: uncoordinated sectoral policies; and population increase and society placing many legitimate, but often competing, demands on the resource base and the environment, with the sectoral management approaches have failed to achieve the objectives of coastal planning and sustainable development. This has been attributed to: limited understanding of coastal and marine resources, natural processes and opportunities; institutional weaknesses, single sector planning, bureaucracy, competing interests among institutions and misplaced priorities; inadequate legislation and enforcement; inadequately trained personnel, use of inappropriate technologies and equipment, and limited experience in integrated coastal planning, development and management.
The result of all these has been deficient pollution management, over-extraction of resources and unsustainable livelihoods, unsustainable use patterns, resulting in wide spread degradation and loss of critical habitats and loss of development opportunities. Statistics have shown that fisheries, which Kenya has only focused on both for domestic and export markets, accounting for only about 0.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generate employment for over two million Kenyans through fishing, boat building, equipment repair, fish processing, and other ancillary activities.
Despite this, the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) estimates the annual economic value of goods and services in the marine and coastal ecosystem of the blue economy in the Western Indian Ocean is over US$22 billion with Kenya’s share slightly over US$4.4 billion (20%) with the tourism sector taking the lion’s share of over US$4.1 billion. Therefore, the full economic potential of marine resources has not been exploited, yet Kenya has a maritime territory of 230,000 square kilometers and a distance of 200 nautical miles offshore. Kenya has not yet invested in this potentially lucrative area thus occasioning loss of income and opportunities for the Kenyan people. It is also a potential solution to the food insecurity problem in Kenya through maximizing on the seafood harvesting.
The global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC 2018) came up with several forward looking resolutions as captured in the outcome Report. The Conference captured concrete commitments and practical actions that can be taken today to help the world transition to the blue economy. However, for Kenya to benefit to fully benefit from these resources there must be conscious efforts aimed at tackling the highlighted challenges related to environmental sustainability, maritime security and inclusive development.
The successful exploitation of the blue resources in Kenya requires the concerted efforts of all. A clear stakeholder mapping of all the potential beneficiaries as well as the interested parties, such as communities that directly rely on these resources for their livelihoods is needed so that they can work closely with the government bodies in charge of these resources as well as environmental conservation to ensure that they all work towards improving the lives of the people, economic development as well as environmental conservation. The Government (Executive, Judiciary and Parliament) should work closely with the county governments, Non-Governmental Organisations, scientists and other professionals as well as the specific committees or offices charged with coming up with the policy blueprint for the development of the country’s blue economy to ensure that there is not only in place practical measures laid down by way of legal and policy frameworks.
*This is article is an extract from an article by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD,Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards): Muigua, K., “Harnessing the Blue Economy: Challenges and Opportunities for Kenya,” http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Harnessing-the-Blue-Economy-Challenges-and-Opportunities-for-Kenya-24th-December-2018.pdf, Dr. Kariuki Muigua is Kenya’s foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized as one of the leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts by the Chambers Global Guide 2021.
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