Paper short abstract:

As demand for sand increases due to rapid population growth and infrastructure development, Kenya’s laissez-faire attitude to sand mining has resulted in environmental degradation and socio-economic issues. Here, the response of a regional government to these demands is assessed and critiqued.

Paper long abstract:

Artisanal river sand mining has been the main source of construction aggregates in Kenya. Makueni county comprises a series of intermittent, ephemeral streams that remained one of the major sources of construction sand for Nairobi and its sprawling peri-urban area. With no regulation, decades of river sand mining have led to unprecedented social issues evidenced by conflicts over access and control of sand resources, enrichment of a few and lack of equitable benefit sharing of proceeds from natural resources, proliferation of drug abuse, school dropout and destruction and disruption of the environment and environmental systems.

At the advent of County governments in 2013, Makueni pioneered in legislating on sand mining. Regulation began in 2015 under the auspices of the Makueni County Sand Conservation and Utilization Act, 2015. Since regulation, the county has witnessed fewer violent conflicts over sand resources and a fall in school dropout rate. The environment has benefitted through increased thickness of sand deposits resulting in greater rates of alluvial water recharge, increased riparian vegetation and increasingly healthier rivers. The increase in water availability has facilitated reuptake of small-scale agribusiness, changing fortunes of the local farmers.

In the midst of an Anthropocene and a growing debate on the need to rethink sand as a strategic resource, reviewing Makueni’s journey highlights the complexities of the intercession of the past sand resources governance regimes, perceptions and practices and allows insight into how to manage present and future pressures whilst regulating sand mining. The absence of a coordinated approach to regulate sand mining more broadly across Kenya underpins these complexities and is a reflection of the sociopolitical contestations and its unique governance challenges.