Abstract
The linkage between ecosystems and human well-being is a focus of the conceptualization of “ecosystem services” as promoted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. However, the actual nature of connections between ecosystems and the well-being of individuals remains complex and poorly understood. We conducted a series of qualitative focus groups with five different stakeholder groups connected to a small-scale Kenyan coastal fishery to understand (1) how well-being is understood within the community, and what is important for well-being, (2) how people’s well-being has been affected by changes over the recent past, and (3) people’s hopes and aspirations for their future fishery. Our results show that people conceive well-being in a diversity of ways, but that these can clearly map onto the MA framework. In particular, our research unpacks the “freedoms and choices” element of the framework and argues for greater recognition of these aspects of well-being in fisheries management in Kenya through, for example, more participatory governance processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Billson, J.M. 2006. Conducting focus group research across cultures: Consistency and comparability. WeD Working Paper 27. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.welldev.org.uk/research/workingpaperpdf/wed27.pdf.
Bizikova, L. 2011. Understanding the contribution of the environment to human well-being: A review of literature, IISD Report. International Institute for Sustainable Development, Ottawa, October 2011.
Britton, E. 2012. Assessing the wellbeing of Northern Ireland’s Fishing Society using a three-dimensional approach: Implications for sustainable fisheries. PhD Thesis. Northern Ireland: University of Ulster.
Britton, E., and S. Coulthard. 2013. Assessing the social wellbeing of Northern Ireland’s fishing society using a three-dimensional approach. Marine Policy 37: 28–36.
Brown, K., T.M. Daw, S. Rosendo, M. Bunce, and N. Cherret. 2008. Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation: Marine & Coastal Situational Analysis. Synthesis Report.
Butler, C.D., and W. Oluoch-Kosura. 2006. Linking future ecosystem services and future human well-being. Ecology and Society 11: 30. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art30/.
Camfield, L. 2006. The why and how of understanding ‘subjective’ wellbeing: Exploratory work by the WeD group in four developing countries. WeD Working Paper 26. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.welldev.org.uk/research/workingpaperpdf/wed26.pdf.
Camfield, L., and Y. Tafere. 2009. ‘No, living well does not mean being rich’: Diverse understandings of well-being among 11–13-year-old children in three Ethiopian communities. Journal of Children and Poverty 15: 119–138.
Carpenter, S.R., H.A. Mooney, J. Agard, D. Capistrano, R.S. Defries, S. Díaz, T. Dietz, A.K. Duraiappah, et al. 2009. Science for managing ecosystem services: Beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 106: 1305–1312.
Cinner, J.E., T.R. McClanahan, and A. Wamukota. 2010. Differences in livelihoods, socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge about the sea between fishers and non-fishers living near and far from marine parks on the Kenyan coast. Marine Policy 34: 22–28.
Clark, D.A. 2002. Visions of development: A study of human values. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Coulthard, S., D. Johnson, and J.A. McGregor. 2011. Poverty, sustainability and human wellbeing: A social wellbeing approach to the global fisheries crisis. Global Environmental Change 21: 453–463.
Degen, A.A., J. Hoorweg, and B.C.C. Wangila. 2010. Fish traders in artisanal fisheries on the Kenyan coast. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 4: 296–311.
Duraiappah, A.K. 2004. Exploring the linkages: Human wellbeing, poverty and ecosystem services. Manitoba: United Nations Environment Programme and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Duraiappah, A.K., C. Scherkenbach, P. Munoz, X. Bai, M. Fragkias, H. Gutscher, and L. Neskakis. 2012. Human wellbeing for a planet under pressure. Rio +20 Policy Brief no. 6. Commissioned by the International Conference Planet Under Pressure: New Knowledge Towards Solutions. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from www.planetunderpressure2012.net.
Evans, L.S., K. Brown, and E.H. Allison. 2011. Factors influencing adaptive marine governance in a developing country context: A case-study of southern Kenya. Ecology and Society 16: 21.
Hoorweg, J., D. Foeken, and R. Obudho. 2000. Conclusion: Culture, resources and development in the Kenya Coast. In Kenya Coast Handbook: Culture, resources and development in the East African Littoral, ed. J. Hoorweg, D. Foeken, and R. Obudho, 393–408. Hamburg: LIT.
IISD. 2011. Solutions for improved human wellbeing. IISD Report 2011–2012, October 2011. Ottawa: International Institute for Sustainable Development.
MA. 2003. Ecosystems and human well-being: A framework for assessment. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Washington: World Resources Institute. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://pdf.wri.org/ecosystems_human_wellbeing.pdf.
MA. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being. General synthesis report. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Nairobi: UNEP. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/Synthesis.aspx.
Matsue, N. 2009. Gender, Trade and Development in Kenya’s Marine Fishery. MSc Thesis. Norwich: University of East Anglia, School of International Development.
McGregor, J.A. 2009. Building sustainable governance. Human wellbeing in fishing communities. Paper prepared for ESPA Workshop 1, Institute for Ocean Management, Chennai, India, 1–8. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.wellcoast.org/building-sustainable-governance-project-bsg.
Narayan, D., R. Chambers, M. Kaul Shah, and P. Petesch. 2000. Voices of the poor—Crying out for change. New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.
Polishchuk, Y., and F. Rauschmayer. 2012. Beyond “benefits”? Looking at ecosystem services through the capability approach. Ecological Economics 81: 103–111.
Robeyns, I. 2006. The capability approach in practice. Journal of Political Philosophy 14: 351–376.
Sen, A. 1999. Development as freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Signa, D., P.M. Tuda, and M. Samoilys. 2008. Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts of Beach Seining in Kenya-Final Report, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute KMFRI. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://41.215.122.106/dspace/handle/0/336.
Tuda, A.O., L.D. Rodwell, and T. Stevens. 2007. Conflict management in Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve, Kenya: A spatial multicriteria approach. In Proceedings of the workshop on a Regional Perspective on MPAs in the Western Indian Ocean, 9–14 May 2007, ed. A. Edwards and T. Hooper, 63 pp. Mauritius: Rodrigues Island. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.ncl.ac.uk/tcmweb/tmr/Rodrigues_Workshop_Proceedings_high-res.pdf.
World Bank. 2001. Making sustainable commitments, an environment strategy for the World Bank. Washington, DC: The World Bank Group. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ENVIRONMENT/Resources/244380-1250028593656/6382907-1252510780845/6428643-1255012678534/WBG-Environment-Strategy-2001-Full.pdf.
Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper formed part of a 2-year project titled “Participatory Modelling of Wellbeing Tradeoffs in Coastal Kenya (P-Mowtick)” funded by the NERC-ESRC-DFID Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) program between 2011 and 2012. For further details, see http://www.espa.ac.uk/projects/ne-i00324x-1/further-information-and-project-documents. The authors are also grateful for comments received from two anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abunge, C., Coulthard, S. & Daw, T.M. Connecting Marine Ecosystem Services to Human Well-being: Insights from Participatory Well-being Assessment in Kenya. AMBIO 42, 1010–1021 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0456-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0456-9