Taita-Taveta district is situated in the South-West part of Kenya’s Coast Province. It borders Kwale and Kilifi Districts in East, Tana River, Kitui and Machakos Distirct in the North, Kajiado District in the North West and Tanzania in the South and South east. Taita-Taveta is basically a rural district whose population earns a living from farming and livestock raising. The district has hardly any large industries.

The land use in the district can be summarized as shown below:

 

Land-use Classification	Sq.Km
Agricultural Land	6478
National Parks	10634
Waters	16
Total	17128

 

As shown by that above information, 62% of the total district’s area of 17128Km2 is covered by the two National Parks namely; Tsavo East and Tsavo West. A further 16Km2 is covered by water bodies leaving only 38% of the land for the settlement and agricultural activities. It is also imperative to note that a substantial portion of this land has either been leased out to investors (ranches, sisal plantations) or irregularly allocated to political heavy weights.

According to the 1999 populations and housing census, the district population stands at 246,671 and the population density is 14. This is grossly misleading though since no residents are allowed to set foot let alone live in the parks. The actual population density should therefore be 38.

Resource Potential of the District endowed with a wide range of resource such as the following:

•  Land and Soils
Soils of the alluvial foot plains which cover three of the five divisions are of varying fertility levels from moderate to high. These soils are very good for agricultural purposes.

 

•  Water Resources
The District is home to both surface and underground water sources. The surface water sources include Mima springs, Lake Challa and Jipe and rivers Mwatate, Kishenyi, Ziwani, Challa, Kigombo and Kishushe. Underground water resources include among others the following springs and streams. Examples include Njukini, Sanite Njoro Kubwa, Kitobo, Maji ya waleni, Homer’s springs and Lemonya springs.

 

•  Forests
The total area under forests (gazetted and ungazetted) in the district according to the District Forestry Office, Wundanyi, 1996, is 8841 ha. These if harnessed can trigger economic activities especially in the furniture industry.

•  Minerals and Materials
Minerals and materials found in the district include gemstones, apatite, asbestos graphite, kaolin, kyanite, clays and building stones.

•  Tourist Attractions
The Tsavo East and West national Parks are home to many forms of wildlife that in turn attract tourists from allover the world. In the parks are found hotels and lodges to cater for the needs of the tourists.

 

•  Fisheries
The district has an abundance of surface water sources in its flat low lying area that include lakes, rivers and dams. All these give the district significant potential for fish farming.

 

The major problems affecting the district include among others, the following:

 

    •  Poverty
    •  Population Pressure
    •  Landlessness
    •  Absent, inadequate or weak government support to infrastructural development
    •  Unemployment.

According to estimates from the Economic Survey 2005 (Poverty Estimates by Constituency, 1999/2000) 59.9% of the district’s estimated population of 158292 lives in abject poverty (below the poverty line). The district contributes 6.9% and 0.6% to the total provincial and national poverty respectively. Poverty is especially rampant in the lowlands.

The district consists of vast tracts of land owned by individual companies, by the state or which is classified as trust land. In some cases, such land is idle or underutilized, thus there is an urgent need for plans to promote alternative uses of this land.

The TARDA report and its projections depicted the district as one that consumes more that it produces in spite of its (the district’s) capacity to be least self-sufficient and at mot a surplus producer of agricultural food products. What urgently needs to be done is to increase efforts to develop the resources available in the district including the arrest of the destruction on crops and livestock by the parks’ wildlife.

The district’s epicenters for economic and commercial activities re in rural market and urban centers that vary in size with Voi, Wundanyi and Taveta rated as big towns; Mwatate, Bura station, Sagala, Kimirogo and Werugha as medium sized centers whereas Mwakitau, Mghange, Ghazi and Rukanga are small centers. Opportunities for small-scale industrial development such as furniture making, networking, tailoring and leather work are mainly to be found in the above named centers.

The district’s population has steadily grown by 3.4% since 1989 owing to a number of factors such as improved health services and the influx of foreigners. This population increase has conspired with the grabbing of land by a few people to put a strain on the merger resources of the district. This phenomenon explains the subsequent landlessness, food insecurity and the escalation of the poverty levels in the general district population.

Infrastructural networks in the district are in a pathetic state. Many roads within the district are underutilized mainly because they are inadequately maintained. As a result their bad conditions hamper their very use. This is an impediment on the transport of produce, supply of farm inputs and delivery if services to the public. The government support to sectorial development with respect to availability of amenities such as water, electricity and telephone are weak and in some cases evidently absent. This is as a result of laxity and outright neglect of the region by the powers that be (read central government) and its representatives at the district level at the expense of the people. As a result, this myriad of interlocking problems at play is the cause of the mounting discontents by the indigenous people if the governance structures in the district.