It is generally known that various forms of human development including agricultural, industrial and infrastructural development have impacts on the surrounding natural environment and the people. The impacts can be positive or negative or both. The impacts encompass all aspects of natural, economic, cultural and social environment and are more evident with large-scale development projects like oil pipeline projects, airports and large hydroelectric dams.

An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ESIA, is a process of identifying, predicting, and evaluating the likely environmental, socioeconomic, cultural and other impacts of a proposed development so as to reduce negative impacts and improve the positive contributions to the natural environment and well-being of the people (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016).

It is a process for predicting and assessing the potential environmental and social impacts of a proposed project, evaluating alternatives and designing appropriate mitigation, management and monitoring measures (Business Biodiversity and Offsets Programme (BBOP), 2012).

This is an important procedure for ensuring that the likely effects of new development on the environment and socioeconomic and cultural lives of the people that the development is meant for are fully understood and taken into account before the development is allowed to go ahead.

The various dimensions of this process are explained in this module.