An annotated bibliography covering three main areas: the effects of shifting cultivation, including studies on the cropping period and fallow period; sustainable low input alternatives to shifting cultivation; and low input alternatives for the rehabilitation of degraded land.

This book won the prestigious Oberly Award for the best bibliography in the agricultural or natural sciences in 2009 It contains 2,336 references. Begins with a chronology of soy in Africa from 1857 to 2009. This is a book about the history of soybeans and soyfoods in Africa, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoro Islands, Comoros, Congo Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Reunion, Rhodesia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Contains a full-page color map of soy in Africa, plus 25 historical illustrations and photos, many color.