Nature Based Enterprises for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Natural resources play a significant role in the livelihoods of rural households. They are part of the complex and diverse rural livelihoods. They provide subsistence and cash income to local communities. The natural resource base provides most food, fuel, fodder, building materials, traditional medicines, materials for cloth and dyes, gums and resins and fibre. Population pressure, mis management of natural resources and poor farming methods have contributed to the destruction of agricultural and grazing lands, leading to a decline in food production, conflict over natural resources and increased urban migration in search of employment. These factors in addition to inappropriate social and economic policies, traditional, cultural and historic factors have resulted in increasing environmental degradation and the poverty facing most of Africa's population today.