ASAL’S AFRICA, Western, Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa all the way to Botswana and Namibia has its own unique and same indigenous vegetation, of which millions of the different pastoralist communities has been relying on their social economic and livelihood, adopted to the climate effects for many years. Every day, millions of these different communities cut down the trees for making homesteads, fencing off their livestock’s from the predators at Night and charcoal burning, the latter supplying to the nearest rural and major towns. These trends has reduced the vegetation cover and land degradation without proper planning linking to the policy to manage and restore the landscape in ASAL’s Africa, though there are general poicy for conservation in the constitution, forest management act, The rangeland management.
There are communities who are Agro-Pastoralist living in ASAL’s who live along the rivers of Africa who are better than the others who only depend on livestock herding a lone and had no other alternative livelihoods, with population increase on the upper streams of African rivers and a lot of farming, the water flow is reduced to the down streams and creating conflicts. The climate change effects also add to the severe drought and change of the rainfall patterns and wipe out 80% of the live stocks and leave the pastoralist communities with shock and deprived, these result the highest poverty level index and keeps on repeating for many years, living the whole population of the community depending on humanitarian aid and relief for food security through WFP, FAO, WORLD BANK etc. The wildlife is not spared either in ASAL’s Africa they browse and graze with the same domestics animals on the same landscape. The KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) is supporting with water boozers for extreme thirsty and emergency.
Traditionally the indigenous and natural vegetation has supported with social economy in many different ways. The construction of homesteads, herbal medicines, honey production, medicinal tooth brush, dyes, art facts, basketry, (GUM ARABIC AND RESINS) and many other local uses with the same tree products harvested which needs industrial utilization and application for sustainable livelihood improvement and social economic empowerments
Some countries in Africa have utilized these resources like gum Arabic and resins which are only six species out of thousands of these indigenous trees with economic value (el at Abdi Somo). There are currently fifteen countries in Africa which produce and control the market of gum Arabic and resins and Kenya are among fifteen tops and third in resins export though, through unorganized, unprofessional middlemen and companies exporting Gum Arabic and Resins. Annually, Kenya repeats through supplying bad quality gums and resins and had bad reputations through PORT MOMBASA.