THE EFFECTS OF SAND HARVESTING ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN KENYA WITH CASE STUDY OF MACHAKOS COUNTY
Simon Kogi Mwaura
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Sand mining is the removal of sand from their natural configuration. Sand is used for all kinds of projects like land reclamations, the construction of artificial islands and coastline stabilization. These projects have economic and social benefits, but sand mining can also have environmental problems. Environmental problems occur when the rate of extraction of sand, gravel and other materials exceeds the rate at which natural processes generate these materials. The morphologies of the mining areas have demonstrated the impact of harvesting with the prowess to destroy the cycle of ecosystems. In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities.Sand harvesting has been one of the serious environmental problems around the globe in recent years. In order to address these problems, pragmatic and explicit laws and regulations have to be developed by countries in a participatory manner so as to facilitate enforcement and compliance at all levels within the social settings. Mining of natural aggregates, including both sand and gravel and crushed rock, represents the main source of construction aggregates used throughout the world, with examples from Australia (Erskine & Green, 2009). However, operations of mining, whether small or large scale, are inherently disruptive to the environment (Makweba&Ndonde, 2010).
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