This book presents contemporary case studies of land use, management practices, and innovation in Africa with a view to exploring how multifunctional land uses can alleviate food insecurity and poverty. Food security and livelihoods in Africa face multiple challenges in the form of feeding a growing population on declining land areas under the impacts of climate change. The overall question is what kind of farming systems can provide resilient livelihoods? This volume presents a selection of existing farming systems that demonstrate how more efficient use of land and natural resources, labour and other inputs can have positive effects on household food security and livelihoods. It examines how aquaculture, integrated water management, peri-urban farming systems, climate-smart agriculture practices and parkland agroforestry contribute multiple benefits. Drawing on case studies from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, contributed by young African scientists, this book provides a unique perspective on multifunctional land use in Africa and illustrates how non-conventional uses can be profitable while promoting social and environmental sustainability. Tapping into the global discussion on land scarcity and linking food security to existing land use change processes, this volume will stimulate readers looking for diversified land uses that are compatible with both household and national food security ambitions. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of African development, agriculture, food security, land use and environmental management, as well as sustainable development more generally, in addition to policymakers and practitioners working in these areas.

This book presents contemporary case studies of land use, management practices, and innovation in Africa with a view to exploring how multifunctional land uses can alleviate food insecurity and poverty. Food security and livelihoods in Africa face multiple challenges in the form of feeding a growing population on declining land areas under the impacts of climate change. The overall question is what kind of farming systems can provide resilient livelihoods? This volume presents a selection of existing farming systems that demonstrate how more efficient use of land and natural resources, labour and other inputs can have positive effects on household food security and livelihoods. It examines how aquaculture, integrated water management, peri-urban farming systems, climate-smart agriculture practices and parkland agroforestry contribute multiple benefits. Drawing on case studies from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, contributed by young African scientists, this book provides a unique perspective on multifunctional land use in Africa and illustrates how non-conventional uses can be profitable while promoting social and environmental sustainability. Tapping into the global discussion on land scarcity and linking food security to existing land use change processes, this volume will stimulate readers looking for diversified land uses that are compatible with both household and national food security ambitions. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of African development, agriculture, food security, land use and environmental management, as well as sustainable development more generally, in addition to policymakers and practitioners working in these areas.

This book presents contemporary case studies of land use, management practices, and innovation in Africa with a view to exploring how multifunctional land uses can alleviate food insecurity and poverty. Food security and livelihoods in Africa face multiple challenges in the form of feeding a growing population on declining land areas under the impacts of climate change. The overall question is what kind of farming systems can provide resilient livelihoods? This volume presents a selection of existing farming systems that demonstrate how more efficient use of land and natural resources, labour and other inputs can have positive effects on household food security and livelihoods. It examines how aquaculture, integrated water management, peri-urban farming systems, climate-smart agriculture practices and parkland agroforestry contribute multiple benefits. Drawing on case studies from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, contributed by young African scientists, this book provides a unique perspective on multifunctional land use in Africa and illustrates how non-conventional uses can be profitable while promoting social and environmental sustainability. Tapping into the global discussion on land scarcity and linking food security to existing land use change processes, this volume will stimulate readers looking for diversified land uses that are compatible with both household and national food security ambitions. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of African development, agriculture, food security, land use and environmental management, as well as sustainable development more generally, in addition to policymakers and practitioners working in these areas.

Originally published in 1969, the contributors to this volume examine the natural and social environments of selected areas in Africa and study in detail some particular problems and their solutions. Climate, landforms, soils and vegetation are discussed as fundamental aspects of the physical environment. The next section discusses the social and political environment: demography, agricultural systems and the legacies of colonial administration. Case studies in Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, Eswatini and Kenya are analysed. The book is aimed at students of African studies, geographers and agriculturalists.

This book provides a theoretical and practical foundation needed to change the practice of land use management in Southern Africa. It presents an overview of alternative land use management system for South African municipalities that is economically, socially and environmentally more sustainable than many of the land use schemes in effect at present. Land use management is a component of spatial governance that controls the nature and extent of development to prevent harmful impacts on people and the environment. As the current system with its colonial/modernist planning and regulatory mechanisms were never designed to deal with rapid change, urbanisation and informality, a different form of land development and land use management is necessary. This timely book reflects the culmination of many years of practical experience and research into various aspects of land use management by the authors and studies undertaken by their master’s and doctoral students. The book goes beyond an analysis of the problems and suggests concrete proposals that can be applied throughout Southern Africa based on a rural to urban transect. This book is directed to a broad range of readers interested in spatial planning and land use management. It will be of interest to those in the fields of geography, urban studies, urban design, planning and architecture.

Africa is largely dependent on natural resources in its quest to achieve sustainable development goals, with its woodlands and forests known to be among the most exploited ecosystems. Anthropogenic pressure has led to the progressive conversion of these woodlands and forests into patches of regrowth stands, savanna and cropland systems. Expansion with intensification of agricultural land and the unsustainable use of fuelwood biomass are among the major drivers of such landscape transformations and the associated decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This phenomenon is growing in magnitude and significance with emerging environmental issues including climate change, biological invasion, and pollution arising from various land use practices, thereby jeopardizing Africa’s development pathway. Agroforestry holds promises to reverse this trend, as it provides the potential for designing multifunctional agricultural landscapes that guarantee trade-offs of food security, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem services. Africa is characterized by highly variable ecological conditions and remarkable cultural diversity that influence the conception of landscape multifunctionality. Drawing upon the vast experience of researchers and many other professionals in Africa, this book contextualizes the roles of trees in African multifunctional landscapes, capturing the biophysical and societal diversity in the region, while scrutinizing the ongoing trend of landscape multifunctionality in Africa with reference to the global scenario. It is designed to provide a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the various roles of trees in African landscapes and shed light on the underlying functional attributes of trees, which will help readers to generate a better insight and problem-solving approach for landscape multifunctionality in the context of Africa. This book defines the multifunctional landscapes with reference to an African context. The book has fourteen chapters, covering five broad thematic areas (i) the multiple services, functions and role of trees in multifunctional landscapes; (ii) tree-based production systems, products and their contributions to rural livelihoods; (iii) drivers of land cover changes and their impacts; (iv) approaches for managing resources to integrate trees in multifunctional landscapes; and (v) external factors affecting landscape resources management in Africa.

According to estimates by the International Land Coalition based at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 57 million hectares of land have been leased to foreign investors since 2007. Current research has focused on human rights issues related to inward investment in land but has been ignorant of water resource issues and the challenges of managing scarce water. This handbook will be the first to address inward investment in land and its impact on water resources in Africa. The geographical scope of this book will be the African continent, where land has attracted the attention of risk-taking investors because much land is under-utilised marginalized land, with associated water resources and rapidly growing domestic food markets. The successful implementation of investment strategies in African agriculture could determine the future of more than one billion people. An important factor to note is that Sub-Saharan Africa will, of all the continents, be hit hardest by climate change, population growth and food insecurity. Sensible investment in agriculture is therefore needed, however, at what costs and at whose expense? The book will also address the livelihoods theme and provide a holistic analysis of land and water grabbing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Four other themes will addressed: politics, economics, environment and the history of land investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The editors have involved a highly diverse group of around 25 expert researchers, who will review the pro and anti-investment arguments, geopolitics, the role of capitalist investors, the environmental contexts and the political implications of, and reasons for, leasing millions of hectares in Sub-Saharan Africa. To date, there has been no attempt to review land investments through a suite of different lenses, thus this handbook will differ significantly from existing research and publication. The editors are Tony Allan, (Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, School of Oriental and African Studies and King’s College London); Jeroen Warner (Assistant Professor, Disaster Studies, University of Wageningen); Suvi Sojamo (PhD Researcher, Water and Development Research Group, Aalto University); and Martin Keulertz (PhD Researcher, Department of Geography, London Water Group, King’s College London).