Monitoring Population Pressure in the SemiArid Zone of Kenya

Population pressure is a maladjustment between resources of a community and its population. This maladjustment worsens when the population increases at a faster rate than the development of the economy. The pressure leads to the deterioration of land resources and low, risky income opportunities and widespread poverty. Kenya's population growth rate of 4 percent per year is one of the highest in the world. Its populationresource relations are deteriorating and foreshadow the country's future. In the semi-arid and arid parts of the country, especially those occupied by traditional pastoral people, population pressures are particularly serious. Here, the pressures of people and large animal populations (both domestic and game) lead to overgrazing, overcutting, and trampling. Other destructive activities include cultivation on hillsides and pasturing livestock on steep slopes with little attempt to control their movements or numbers. These activities expose soils to erosion in the period of intense rains and cause severe land damage