Rural livelihoods and agrarian change in sub-Saharan Africa

2004 ◽  
pp. 69-80
Keyword(s):  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Urban Sprawl in sub-Saharan Africa: A review of the literature in selected countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Gerald Albert Baeribameng Yiran ◽  
Austin Dziwornu Ablo ◽  
Freda Elikplim Asem ◽  
George Owusu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Sub Saharan

Urban sprawl has gained popularity in academic discourse in recent times, but the majority of the research was conducted in developed countries. There is a marginal body of works on the character and nature of urban sprawl in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), although the region isexperiencing one of the fastest rates of sprawl. Urbanisation in SSA is very rapid, and in addition to the emerging challenges of globalisation, climate change and poverty, SSA cities have an enormous task to manage urban sprawl. This paper reviews the literature on urban sprawl in SSAto identify research gaps and propose a research agenda. Published articles from five Anglophone countries in three of the four regional blocks in SSA were selected. The literature was organised into the causes and effects of urban sprawl and showed that the previous research on the subjectfocused mainly on its environmental impacts. Few studies have looked at the effects of sprawl on rural livelihoods, agriculture and food security considering the challenges of global climate change and poverty. Other studies have used Remote Sensing and Geographic InformationSystems, but these were conducted largely for change detection. The paper recommends the deployment of a more comprehensive methodology incorporating remote sensing/GIS with ethnographic methods to capture better the complexity and impacts of urban sprawl in SSA.Additionally, further research attention must be paid to the effects of urban sprawl on rural livelihoods and overall sprawl-induced agrarian change.

scholarly journals A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vine Mutyasira
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Multi Phase

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect agri-food systems around the world and lay bare its fragility, worsening the welfare of millions of smallholder farmers whose livelihoods are anchored on agricultural activities. For the vast majority of sub-Saharan Africa, COVID-19 has coincided with a number of other macroeconomic shocks, which have also exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic on food security, nutrition and general livelihoods, as well curtailed policy responses and mitigation strategies. In Zimbabwe, the COVID-19 pandemic struck at a time the country was experiencing a worsening economic and humanitarian situation. This study focused more on community and household dynamics and response measures to cope with the pandemic. This paper presents a summary of findings emerging from a series of rapid assessment studies undertaken by the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme in Mvurwi and Concession areas of Mazowe District in Zimbabwe to examine how COVID-19 is affecting food systems and rural livelihoods in our research communities.

Democratic decentralization in sub-Saharan Africa: its contribution to forest management, livelihoods, and enfranchisement

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. RIBOT ◽  
J. F. LUND ◽  
T. TREUE
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Popular Participation ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Democratic Decentralization ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Expected Benefits

SUMMARYEfforts to promote popular participation in forest management in Sub-Saharan Africa have faced many obstacles and disappointments. Although promises of improvements in relation to forest management, rural livelihoods and local enfranchisement have been achieved in some cases, accounts of frustration outnumber those of success. Focusing on participation through democratic decentralization (namely the transfer of meaningful discretionary powers to local representative authorities), this paper reviews recent empirical studies on the outcomes of popular participation in forest management. The implementation of decentralization of forest management, and ecological, livelihood and democracy outcomes are examined, and misconceptions in analyses of decentralized forestry are explored. The expected benefits of democratic decentralization within forestry are rarely realized because democratic decentralization is rarely established. In most cases, local authorities do not represent the local population or their space of discretion is so narrow that they have little effect on management. There is little official local management taking place, even under so-called decentralized or participatory management arrangements. If ever significant space for local discretion under democratic authorities is created, researchers will have the opportunity to study whether democratic decentralization can deliver the theoretically promised positive outcomes. Nevertheless, some cases shed light on effects of local decision making. Three general observations are made on effects of decentralization. First, environmental, livelihood and democracy objectives are not always mutually reinforcing, and under some circumstances they may be at odds. Second, environmental effects of improved forest management often result in benefits accruing to distant or higher-scale aggregate populations, while local communities carry the costs. Third, poor peoples' use of natural resources to maintain their livelihoods often conflicts with profit and revenue interests of local elites, national commercial interests and governments. A negotiated minimum social and environmental standards approach to decentralization of forest management may safeguard essential ecological functions and at the same time protect essential livelihood and economic values of forests at all scales of society. The remainder of decisions, such as how forests are used, by whom and for what, could then be safely placed at the discretion of responsive local representatives.

scholarly journals ‘New agriculture’ for sustainable development? Biofuels and agrarian change in post-war Sierra Leone

2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Maconachie ◽  
Elizabeth Fortin
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Green Capitalism ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Post War ◽  
Sustainability Standards

ABSTRACTIn sub-Saharan Africa, commercial bioenergy production has been hailed as a new form of ‘green capitalism’ that will deliver ‘win-win’ outcomes and ‘pro poor’ development. Yet in an era of global economic recession and soaring food prices, biofuel ‘sustainability’ has been at the centre of controversy. This paper focuses on the case of post-war Sierra Leone, a country that has over the last decade been consistently ranked as one of the poorest in the world, facing food insecurity, high unemployment and entrenched poverty. Following a recent government strategy to secure foreign direct investment in biofuels production in agriculturally rich regions of the country, the largest foreign investment in Sierra Leone since the end of its civil war has been secured: a Swiss company is to invest US$368 million into a large-scale biofuels project over the course of 3 years, and promises to simultaneously stimulate an enabling environment for investment, provide job opportunities for youth and increase food production. For multiple actors involved in the project, the concept of ‘sustainability’ is crucial but accordingly there are varying interpretations of its meaning. Such differences in interpretation and the complex contradictions within discourses of sustainability are in turn framed by the various scales within which these actors are situated. While attempts have been made to manage these contradictions through global sustainability standards, the unequal power relations between different actors will ultimately determine the ways in which they are likely to be resolved. The paper concludes by reflecting on how these processes may be contributing to a changing governance landscape and wider global political economy within which bioenergy is being produced, processed and consumed.

scholarly journals Agriculture, Diversification, and Gender in Rural Africa

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Rural Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Village Level Studies

This book contributes to the understanding of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa through addressing the dynamics of intensification and diversification within and outside agriculture, in contexts where women have much poorer access to agrarian resources than men. It uses a longitudinal cross-country comparative approach, relying on the Afrint dataset—unique household-level longitudinal data for six African countries collected over the period 2002–2013/15. The book first descriptively summarizes findings from the third wave of the dataset. The book nuances the current dominance of structural transformation narratives of agricultural change by adding insights from gender and village-level studies of agrarian change. It argues that placing agrarian change within broader livelihood dynamics outside agriculture, highlighting country- and region-specific contexts is an important analytical adaptation to the empirical realities of rural Africa. From the policy perspective, this book provides suggestions for more inclusive rural development policies, outlining the weaknesses of present policies illustrated by the currently gendered inequalities in access to agrarian resources. The book also provides country-specific insights from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

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