The Circular Relationship Between Poverty, Environment, and Economic Development: The Case of Shakshouk Village, Fayoum

Rural Communities living within Protected Areas (PAs) depend mainly on the natural environment for their livelihoods and tend to be among the poorest in the country; since the degradation of the environment jeopardizes their economic-resource base. Moreover, economic development pressures cause changes in PAs’ contexts leading to negative and positive impacts on the environment and people, which then affect the long-term benefits of development. In this regard, an integration between the different themes of Poverty, Environment and Economic Development is crucial – especially when challenges and practices intertwine on ground. With notions of integration starting in the Egyptian context; the case study of Shakshouk village within Qaroun Protected Area in Fayoum is investigated- where the majority of the community is rural poor who live in degraded environments and face continuous development pressures. This paper explores the mutual positive and negative influence existing between Poverty- Environment- Economic Development in order to map the system’s dynamics of Shakshouk; using on-site semi structured interviews, observation and building on previous secondary data. It ends by shedding light on a circular relationship existing between Poverty, Environment and Economic Development which has to be considered by decision makers in future sectoral interventions.