Essay Undergraduate 594 words

Environmental Justice and Pharmaceutical Land Use in Kenya

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Abstract

This paper explores an environmental justice case involving Colney & Pitts Company, a U.S. pharmaceutical firm seeking to establish a manufacturing plant in Kenya's Aberdares mountain range to harvest medicinal evergreen trees used by the Kikuyu people. The paper defines environmental justice, identifies key stakeholders and their competing philosophies, and analyzes the tensions arising from the conflict between commercial pharmaceutical interests and indigenous land rights. Environmental advocacy organizations are also examined as counterweights to corporate development priorities. The paper argues that a balanced resolution must account for the rights and well-being of all stakeholders, particularly the indigenous Kikuyu community.

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What makes this paper effective

Clearly grounds the case study in an established theoretical framework — environmental justice — before applying it to a specific scenario, giving the analysis conceptual anchoring.
Identifies multiple stakeholders with distinct philosophies, showing the student understands that environmental conflicts involve more than two opposing sides.
Uses a realistic and ethically layered scenario (indigenous land rights versus global pharmaceutical demand) that naturally surfaces competing moral claims without overstating any single position.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates stakeholder mapping as an analytical method. Rather than arguing for one side, the student systematically identifies each party — the Kikuyu community, the pharmaceutical company, and two environmental organizations — and articulates the ethical reasoning behind each position. This technique is especially effective in applied ethics writing because it forces the writer to represent conflicting values fairly before moving to evaluation.

Structure breakdown

The paper follows a clear problem-analysis structure across five sections: (1) a conceptual introduction defining environmental justice, (2) presentation of the specific environmental problem, (3) stakeholder identification and ethical positioning, (4) analysis of competing priorities, and (5) a discussion of tensions and a gesture toward resolution. This five-part scaffold is well-suited to short applied ethics case studies at the undergraduate level.

Introduction to Environmental Justice

Environmental justice can be understood as the social justice dimension of environmental ethics, and it has contributed to the emergence of the environmental justice movement — a movement aimed at addressing the unfair allocation of toxic, dangerous, and hazardous waste facilities. The term can also be described as every individual's right to a safe, productive, healthy, and sustainable environment. In this context, "environment" encompasses physical, social, ecological, political, economic, and aesthetic surroundings. The conditions under which people's rights to such an environment are freely exercised constitute environmental justice. The concept is largely grounded in ideas drawn from civil rights, community organizing efforts, and public health (Warner & DeCosse, 2009).

The Environmental Problem

As a leading pharmaceutical company in the United States, Colney & Pitts Company manufactures herbal remedies for various illnesses, including prostate cancer. In order to develop medicines for prostate disorders, the company seeks to establish a manufacturing plant in the Aberdares mountain ranges in Kenya. Research conducted by the Kikuyu tribe — who have lived in this mountain range for generations — identified an evergreen tree that has long been used as a remedy for prostatitis and genitourinary disorders. Given the high number of people suffering from prostate cancer in America and Europe, demand for medicines derived from these evergreen trees is substantial. As a result, Colney & Pitts Company has budgeted for the development of production activities in the region.

Stakeholders and Their Philosophies

Several stakeholders are involved in this environmental problem, each with distinct philosophies or ethical perspectives underlying their positions. As the indigenous inhabitants of the Aberdares mountain range, the Kikuyu people are one of the primary stakeholders. Their ethical position holds that pharmaceutical companies from developed nations like the United States are destroying natural habitats for their own commercial interests. Colney & Pitts Company is the second major stakeholder; the company's position is that the growing population of prostate cancer patients outweighs the ecological value of the evergreen trees in the mountain region.

2 Locked Sections · 155 words remaining

Competing Priorities of the Stakeholders · 80 words

"Divergent goals of community, company, and advocates"

Tensions and Environmental Justice · 75 words

"Conflict resolution pathways and justice outcomes"

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Key Concepts in This Paper

Environmental Justice Indigenous Rights Stakeholder Analysis Medicinal Plants Corporate Land Use Kikuyu Community Biodiversity Pharmaceutical Ethics Ecosystem Protection Competing Priorities