Ecosystem services

Description

Agriculture is the backbone of East Africa’s economy,and the most important livelihood strategy for mountain communities is to ensure regional food security. East Africa’s mountainous areas are known for their favourable agricultural conditions due to their fertile volcanic soils, cooler temperatures and more stable rainfall patterns (FAO, 2013; FAO, 2014). As a consequence, the population densities in the mountainous areas of East Africa are much higher than in lowland areas. While Africa has an average population density of 35 people per km², the mountain slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda have a population density of 900 people per km² (UNEP, 2014). Similarly, the majority of Ethiopia’s population, nearly 90 per cent, live in the Ethiopian Highlands, which has the country’s most productive agricultural land and receives the highest rainfall (Alweny et al., 2014; Josephson et al., 2014).