Waste biomass for local sustainable development: a case study in Kenya

Abstract

The traditional concept of development concerns the human actions that have modified the environment to create a space in which live adequately according to his needs. This development paradigm has begun to waver namely for the negative implications and damages for the environment and for the ecosystem, such as serious phenomena of global pollution and scarcity of resources available for future generations (Fischer et al., 2008). The result is a more awareness on the importance of a correct management of natural resources and a review of production and con- sumption patterns, elements that represent the starting point for a cor- rect economic and social development. In the last decades, human activ- ities have led to negative output in many areas, for instance irrational use of renewable and non-renewable resources, climatic alterations, imbalances in natural ecosystems, air pollution, soil and water resources caused by chemical agents and organic residues. The consequences of these actions are harmful for different subjects, not only human beings but also environment and ecosystems. The negative effects of this eco- nomic model affect indifferently developed and developing countries. If we focus our attention on developing countries, we note that despite being very rich in natural resources (Benghida, 2017) and depending on these resources for the internal economy and growth, at local level, multiple environmental and social problems are registered. In fact, the irrational use of natural resources determines an environmental deg- radation (Lewis et al., 1999) that frequently involves an intertwining of other factors of underdevelopment such as poverty, rapid demographic growth, and social inequalities. An accelerated development not suitable and unsustainable causes itself a rapid degradation of the environment and the dramatic destruction of the same natural resources with nega- tive consequences both for the well-being and for the health of the pop- ulation (Zhang et al., 2014).