4) Kenya's Natural Resources

Use of Natural Resources 

Information from the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook shows us that Kenya is rich in natural resources such as limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, and hydropower which are utilized to various degrees. (1) When it comes to minerals, the mining of soda ash produces the greates amount of income, accounting for 74% of the minerals exported from Kenya. (2) Though forests of Kenya play a huge role in the local and national levels, wood from Kenya generally stays within the nation and are not often used outside of Kenya. (3) As highlighted in a previous post, agriculture plays a huge role in Kenya's economy. Crops that are produced and consumed in Kenya are maize, wheat, sorghum, millets, cassava, Irish and sweet potatoes, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables. (4) Crops produced in Kenya then exported outside of the country include coffee, tea, pyrethrum, horticultural crops, and cotton. (4) Hydroelectric power is said to account for almost half of the electric power in Kenya. (5) However, this may change in the coming years as a result of the Kenyan government. (5)

Tea Crops in Kenya
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tea_crop.jpg

In recent years, there have been moves made in order to protect the natural resources from overuse. The Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources developed a program in 2006 to try to lessen the overuse of trees and also prevent soil degradation. (6) Kenya has not seen much of a change in the way that they do agriculture, and thus, farming is done inefficiently and with a lot of waste. (7)

Deforestation in the Cherangani Hills of Khttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cherangani_hills_-_Deforestation.jpgenya

There have been a number of different countries who have established trade with Kenya over the years. During first through fifth centuries, Arab, Greek, ad Indian traders all did trade with Kenya. (8) In the eighteenth century, the Ottomans took control of some port areas of Kenya and established trade routes there. However, Britain overpowered the Ottomans in the nineteenth century and established the British East Africa Company. (9)

(1) "Natural Resources", Country Comparision to the World, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2111.html. 

(2) "Industrial Minerals Mining in Kenya", http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/indm/af/ke/p0005.htm, ¶ 1.
(3) "National Integrated Natural Resources Assessment", State of natural resources and information availability: Forestry Resources, file:///C:/Users/pawn%20plus/Downloads/INRA%20proposal%20final.pdf, ¶ 5.
(4)  "National Integrated Natural Resources Assessment", State of natural resources and information availability:Agricultural Resources and Agricultural Biodiversity,  file:///C:/Users/pawn%20plus/Downloads/INRA%20proposal%20final.pdf, ¶ 3.
(5) "Hydroelectric Power in Kenya", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroelectric_power_in_Kenya, ¶ 1.
(6) "National Integrated Natural Resources Assessment" file:///C:/Users/pawn%20plus/Downloads/INRA%20proposal%20final%20(2).pdf
(7) "Kenya", Agriculture, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Agriculture.
(8) "Early Kenya History", http://www.kenyaconstitution.org/history/early-kenya-history/, ¶ 1.
(9) "Early Kenya History", http://www.kenyaconstitution.org/history/early-kenya-history/, ¶ 5.