The Kiambu County landscape is a rapidly growing area just north of Nairobi, Kenya. Rapid population growth is causing a suite of problems including increased deforestation, degradation of water catchments and encroachment on natural areas broadly. Based on its close proximity to Nairobi, there is a strong and growing institutional presence in the area. Despite the growth, livelihoods are still predominantly driven by agriculture. Coffee and tea are the primary cash crops but a wide diversity of fruits and vegetables are also produced as well as fish, milk and flowers.

The major types of employment include:

• Wage earners: Most of the employees in Kiambu are wage earners. These are not employed permanently and are supposed to be paid on a daily basis. Their wages are based on agricultural legal notice. According to the Labour office- Kiambu, 75% of them are employed in the tea and coffee estates and horticulture
• Self-employed: There are many self-employed persons within the county. They are mainly construction companies, supermarkets, jua kali, manufacturing, hotels and bars among others
• Labor force by sector: Coffee and tea estates are the leading sectors hiring labor force. Other sectors include manufacturers and the service industry

• The main food crops grown in the county include maize, beans, Irish potatoes, bananas and vegetables
• Coffee and tea are the main industrial crops grown especially in the upper and lower highlands of the County
• Horticultural crop production plays an important role in the economy of Kiambu County. Major vegetables include French beans, snow peas, kales, cabbage, garden peas, tomatoes, spinach and carrot among others. Herbs and spices grown include dhania, basil, mint, rosemary, parsley and asparagus
• Fruits: Pineapples are mainly grown in Gatundu North Sub County, while mangoes are mainly in Thika Sub County. Avocado is grown across the county
• Floriculture was practiced in Lari and Limuru but farmers from other sub counties including Thika, Juja and Ruiru are now growing summer flowers for export
• Dairy industry is the leading enterprise with nearly 70% of the farm families keeping an average of 2-3 cows under zero grazing systems. Milk is the major livestock product in Kiambu county and currently leading in Kenya. Poultry and pig keeping continue to take precedence after dairy farming
• The main fish species farmed in the county is Tilapia and catfish which are warm water species
• Apiculture (bee keeping): this has gradually increased leading to an increase in the total honey produced as well as the farmers’ income.

• The arid parts of the county mainly Ndeiya and Karai in Limuru and Kabete constituencies contain diatomite deposits that are unexploited
• The main mining activity is natural gas exploitation in Lari constituency by Carbacid Company Limited
• Others include extraction of ballast, hardcore, gravel, murram, sand and building stones in Juja, Thika, Gatundu South and Gatundu North Constituencies

Kiambu County has a wide variety of wildlife mainly found in Lari Sub-county, such as Kinale forest whose ecosystem harbors elephants, hyenas, leopards, numerous primates, and many species of birds.

Land in Kiambu is put under diverse uses including industrial, agricultural, commercial, wetland, forest and public land. The main forest types in the county are natural/indigenous and plantation forests.