Skip to main content

The Wealth of Knowledge: Drivers and Consequencies of Land-Use Change

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Environmental Change in Lesotho
  • 410 Accesses

Abstract

A review of existing literature on land-use and land-cover change is necessary to provide an understanding of key concepts and factors surrounding land-use and land-cover change research. Population-degradation-poverty accounts predominate. But these are not the only key issues. This chapter will analyse knowledge including: population narratives; the role of institutions and policy; land tenure in a gendered perspective; and climate change-degradation discourses, in the context of land-use and land-cover change in semi-arid landscapes in general, with a focus on southern Africa. Based on the analysis, a theoretical framework for the current study will be developed and put forth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    N.D. stands for ‘no date’.

  2. 2.

    African Farmer magazine was founded in 1988 to create a policy environment that would provide Africa’s farmers with what they need to feed Africa’s people. During 1995, the decision was made to end publication of the magazine in order to devote more of The Hunger Project’s financial resources to expanding on-the-ground action in Africa.

References

  • Abdulai, A., Barrett, C. B., & Hoddinott, J. (2005). Does food aid really have disincentive effects? New evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. World Development, 33(10), 1689–1704. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • African Farmer. The key to Africa’s future. (1990). No. 5, November, the Hunger Project; Los Angeles, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, J. (2006). The Unsettled land: State-making & the politics of land in Zimbabwe, 1893–2003; James Currey Publishers. Online book: http://books.google.com/books?id=c3WIXcoO15YC&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=ranger+terence+democracy+and+traditional+political+structures+in+zimbabwe+%221890+1999%22&source=web&ots=PqFStlqt1N&sig=h5rOuI_Q2Ppd4DmW11gE_n7Bb8A#PPP1,M1. Accessed 7 Aug 2009.

  • Angelsen, A., Shitindi, E. F. K., & Aarrestad, J. (1999). Why do farmers expand their land into forests? Theories and evidence from Tanzania. Environment and Development Economics, Vol. 4, Part 3, July, Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Batterbury, S., &Warren, A. (1999, August). Land use and land degradation in Southwestern Niger: Change and continuity. UK: E.S.R.C. Economic and Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behnke, R. H., & Scoones, I. (1992). Rethinking range ecology: Implications for rangeland management in Africa. Overview of paper presentations and discussions at the Commonwealth Secretariat Technical Product, 19–21 November, 1990, Woburn, UK. IEED Paper No 33, March.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilsborrow, R.E., & Ogendo, H.W. (1992). Population-driven changes in land use in developing countries. Volume 1, pp. 37–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohle, H-G. (2002). Vulnerability and criticality: Perspectives from social geography. Update IHDP, Newsletter of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, No. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boserup, E. (1965). The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briassoulis, H. (2000). Analysis of land use change: Theoretical and modelling approaches.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, J., Badri, M., & Mekki, A-M. (1999). Indigenous knowledge and vegetation use among Bedouin in the eastern desert of Egypt. Applied Geography, 19(2), 87–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, J. (2000). African tenure models at the turn of the century: Individual property models and common property models. Land Reform/ Réforme Agraire/ Reforma Agraria 2000 (1). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgos, J. J., & Baier, W. (1986). Introduction, in WMO – World Meteorological Organisation. 1986. Land use and agrosystem management under severe climatic conditions. Technical Note No. 184; WMO No. 633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carley, M. (1996). Policy management for Sustainable Agriculture in Rural Development (SARD), March, in FAO, 1994. Policy management systems and methods of analysis for sustainable agriculture and rural development. Website http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/EPdirect/EPan0003.htm. Accessed 26 Oct 1999.

  • Clark, A. N. (1985). Longman dictionary of geography: Human and physical. Essex: Longman House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotula, L., Toulmin, C., & Hesse, C. (2004). Land tenure and administration in Africa: Lessons of experience and emerging issues. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, E. Women’s right to land and natural resources: Some implications for a human rights-based approach, 29 January. Website http://fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/LTdirect/LTan0025.htm. Accessed 26 Oct 1999.

  • Danagoro, J-P, Malo, D. & Samba, M. S. (sous la coordination de A. Blague). (1999). Website : La dualité vive entre les normes juridiques et les pratiques coutumières en République centrafricaine. Accessed 9 May 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, R. (1995). Changing places? Women, resource management and migration in the Sahel. Bedford: Russell Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. E. (1970). Population resources environment: Issues in human ecology. San Francisco: W. H Freeman and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. (2001). http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/PopAspectsMDG/04_FAO.pdf. Accessed 8 Sept 2005.

  • Fairhead, J., & Leach, M. (1996). Misreading the African landscape: Society and ecology in a forest-savanna mosaic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. (1995). Modules on gendered, population and rural development with a focus on land tenure. Website: http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0252e/x0252e02.htm. Accessed 8 Sept 2005.

  • Forni, N. (2000). Common property regimes: origins and implications of the theoretical debate. Land Reform, Land Settlement and Cooperatives, 2000(2), 28–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gass, G.M., & Sumberg, J.E. (1993). Intensification of livestock production in Africa: Experience and issues, Overseas Development Group: School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geheb, K. (1995). Exploring people-environment relationships: The changing nature of the small scale fishery in the Kenyan sector of Lake Victoria, Chap. 8. In T. Binns (Ed.), People and environment in Africa (pp. 91–101). Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, E., Allen, R., Allaby, M., Davoli, J., & Lawrence, S. (1972). A blueprint for survival. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamandawana, H., Nkambwe, M., Chanda, R., & Eckardt, F. (2005). Population driven changes in land use in Zimbabwe’s Gutu district of Masvingo Province: Some lessons from recent history. Applied Geography, 25(3), 248–270. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, J. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(13), 1243–1248.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, N. W. (1992). Land husbandry. New York: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, M. (Ed). (1996). Climate change and Southern Africa: An exploration of some potential impacts and implications in the SADC region. Website: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~mikeh/research/cc_safr.htm. Accessed on 9 Mar 2005.

  • Kang, D. S. (1982). Environmental problems of the green revolution with a focus on Punjab, India. In R. Barett (Ed.), International dimensions of the environmental crisis. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeley, J., & Scoones, I. (2000). Global change, global policy: Local to global policy processes for soil management in Africa. IDS Working Paper 115. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, C. A. (2006). Decisive key-factors influencing farm households’ soil and water conservation investments. Applied Geography, 26, 40–60. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwesiga, F., Maghembe, J., Dzowela, B., & Otsyina, R. (1997). Agroforestry alternatives for overcoming land depletion in Southern Africa. Paper presented at the COSTED workshop in Maputo, Mozambique, 27–31 July, International Center for Research in Agroforestry, Zomba, Malawi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, M., & Mearns, R. (1996). Environmental Change and Policy. In M. Leach and R. Mearns (Eds.), The lie of the land: Challenging received on the African environment, London: International African Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Letsoalo, E. M. (1987). Land reform in Southern Africa, Graduate Researcher in Geography, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, R.S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macucule, A., & Ribiero, N. (1997). Agroforestry potentials for better land use in Mozambique, Department of Forestry of the Eduardo M. University, Maputo, Mozambique.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mariko, A. (1991). Reforms, Land tenure and restoring peasants rights: Some basic conditions for reversing environmental degradation in the Sahel. Paper No. 34, Volume 38. London: International Institute for Environment Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maro, P.S. (1974). Population and land resources in Northern Tanzania: The dynamics of change 1920–1970. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maro, P.S. (1988). Agricultural land Management under Population Pressure: The Kilimanjaro experience, Tanzania. Mountain Research and Development Journal, 8, 273–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquette, C. M. (1997). Current poverty, structural adjustment, and drought in Zimbabwe. World Development, 25(7), 1141–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masinde, I. A. (2003). Energy use and desertification, in climate network Africa. Proceedings of the workshop on energy demand, CDM, NEPAD and millennium development goals in East Africa, 22–23 November, Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbata, J. N. (1997). Land use practices in Lesotho: Implications for sustainability in agricultural production. Paper presented at the Southern African workshop on “Regional land cover change, sustainable agriculture and their interactions with global change”, 28–30 July in Maputo, Mozambique, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, National University of Lesotho.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mc Donald, D. A. (1999). Lest the rhetoric begin: Migration, population and the environment in Southern Africa. Geoforum, 30, 13–22. Pergamon.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mc Dowell, C., & de Haan, A. (1997). Migration and sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of the literature. IDS working paper 65. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mc Ivor, C. (1985). Nomads of the Sahara – A vanishing tribe? In: Eco Africa. A newsletter of African NGOs Environment Network, July/August September/October, Nairobi, Kenya.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melmed-Sanjak, J., & Lastarria-Cornhiel, S. (1998). Land access, off-farm income and capital access in relation to the reduction of rural poverty. Accessed on 3 May 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mertens, B., Sunderland, W. D., Ndoye, O., & Lambin, E. F. (2000). Impact of macroeconomic change on deforestation in south Cameroon: Integration of household survey and remotely-sensed data. World Development, 28(6), 983–999. Elsevier Science Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, W. B., & Turner, B. L., II. (1992). Human population growth and global land use/ cover change. Annual Reviews of Ecological Systems, 23, 39–61. Annual Reviews Inc.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Module, II. (1995). Gender, rural fertility/morality to do with land tenure. Downloaded from http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/x0252e/x0252e05.htm. Accessed 3 June 2001.

  • Moorsom, R. (1982). Transforming a wasted land. The future for Namibia 2. Agriculture. London: Catholic Institute for International Relations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortimore, M. (1998). Roots in the African dust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimore, M., & Harris, F. (2005). Do small farmers’ achievements contradict the nutrient depletion scenarios for Africa? Land Use Policy, 22, 43–56. Elsevier.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimore, M., & Tiffen, M. (1995). Population and environment in time perspective: The Machakos story. In T. Binns (Ed.), People and environment in Africa. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muchena, F. N., Onduru, D. D., Gachini, G. N., & de Jager, A. (2005). Turning the tides of soil degradation in Africa: Capturing the reality and exploring opportunities. Land Use Policy, 22, 23–31. Elsevier.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muriuki, G. W., Njoka, T. J., Reid, R. S., & Nyariki, D. M. (2005). Tsetse control and land-use change in Lambwe valley, south-western Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 106, 99–107. Elsevier B. V.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, C. (1995). “Farming Backwards at a Hell of a Speed”: Agrarian problems and agrarian strategies in the Southern Africa Highveld of South Africa. Post-graduate seminar, Institute of Commonwealth, University of London, U.K.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nel, E., & Hill, T. (2008). Marginalisation and demographic change in the semi-arid Karoo. South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments, 72, 2264–2274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyssen, J., Poesen, J., & Deckers, J. (2009). Land degradation and soil and water conservation in tropical highlands. Soil & Tillage Research, 103, 197–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oba, G., & Kaitira, L. M. (2006). Herder knowledge of landscape assessments in arid rangelands in Northern Tanzania. Journal of Arid Environments, 66, 168–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Organic Law N° 08/2005. (2005). Determining the land use and management of land in Rwanda. Government law of 14/07/2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penalosa, E. (1982). Current land policy issues in a changing world, World Congress on Land Policy, 1980 Proceedings, Heath and Co, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, P., & Kambewa, D. (2007). Whose security? Deepening social conflict over ‘customary’ land in the shadow of land tenure reform in Malawi. CID Working Paper No. 142 March, Center for International Development at Havard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petit, C., Scudder, T., & Lambin, E. (2001). Quantifying processes of land-cover change by remote seining: Resettlement and rapid land-cover changes in south-eastern Zambia. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22(17), 3435–3456. Taylor & Francis Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Place, F. (2009). Land tenure and agricultural productivity in Africa: A comparative analysis of the economics literature and recent policy strategies and reforms. World Development, 37(8), 1326–1336. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reenberg, A. (2001). Agricultural land use pattern dynamics in the Sudan–Sahel-towards an event-driven framework. Land Use Policy, 18, 309–319. Elsevier Science Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid, R. S., Kruska, R. L., Muthui, N., Taye, A., Wotton, S., Wilson, C. J., & Mulatu, W. (2000). Land-use and land-cover dynamics in response to changes in climatic, biological and socio-political forces: The case of southwestern Ethiopia. Landscape Ecology, 15, 339–355. Kluwer Academic Publishers, the Netherlands.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richard, H., Adams, J. R., & Page, J. (2005). Do international migration and remit­tances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Development, 33(10), 1645–1669. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringrose, S., Chanda, R., Musisi-Nkambwe, S., & Sefe, F. (1996). Environmental change in the mid-Boteti area of north central Botswana. Environmental Management, 20(3), 397–410. SpringerLink.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roba, H. G., & Oba, G. (2009). Community participatory landscape classification and biodiversity assessment and monitoring of grazing lands in Northern Kenya. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 673–682.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roddick, J. (1994). Global environmental change policy, state, and interest articulation in Latin America. Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Glasgow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roesch, O. (1984). Peasants and collective agriculture. In J. Barker (Ed.), The politics of agriculture in tropical Africa. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutherford, M. C., & Powrie, L. W. (2010). Severely degraded rangeland: Implications for plant diversity from a case study in Succulent Karoo. South Africa. Journal of Arid Environments, 74, 692–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydgren, B. (1988). A geomorphological approach to soil erosion studies in Lesotho. Geografiska Annaler. Series A, Physical Geography, 70(3), 255–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SADC. (1997). The fundamentals of natural resources policy analysis for the SADC region. SADC-ELMS coordination unit. Lesotho: Maseru.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salopek, P. (2001). African farmers fear expanding desert. Chicago Tribune, Downloaded from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/03/0326_africadesert.htm. Accessed 13 June 2001.

  • Scoones, I. (Ed.). (1995). Living with uncertainty: New directions in pastoral development in Africa. London: IT Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. (1996). Range management science and policy: Policies, polemics and pasture in Southern Africa. In M. Leach and R. Mearns (Eds.), The lie of the land: Challenging received wisdom on the African environment. London: International African Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, E. P. (1984). Life before the drought: A human ecological perspective. In E. P. Scott (Ed.), Life before the drought (pp. 49–76). Boston: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sechaba Consultants. (1995). Lesotho’s long journey: Hard choices at the crossroads. Lesotho: Maseru.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serneels, S., Said, M., & Lambin, E. F. (2001). Land-cover changes around a major East African wildlife reserve: The Mara ecosystem. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22(17), 3397–3420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silberfein, M. (1984). Differential development in Machakos district. Kenya. In E. Scott (Ed.), Life before the drought. Boston: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, T. B., Synman, H. A., & Smit, G. N. (2007). Cattle-rangeland management practices and perceptions of pastoralists towards rangeland degradation in Borana zone of southern Ethiopia. Journal of Environmental Management, 82, 481–494.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solow, B. L. (1971). The land question and the Irish economy (pp. 1870–1903). London: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrenson, M. P. K. (1967). Land reform in the Kikuyu country: A case study in government policy. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stringer, L. C., Dyer, J. C., Reed, M. S., Dougill, A. J., Twyman, C., & Mkwambisi, D. (2009). Adaptations to climate change, drought and desertification: Local insights to enhance policy in southern Africa. Environmental Science and Policy, 12, 748–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiffen, M. (1995). Population density, economic growth and societies in transition: Boserup reconsidered in a Kenyan case study. Development and Change, Volume 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiffen, M., Mortimore, M., & Gichuki, G. (1994). More people, less erosion: Environmental recovery in Kenya. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivelli, C. (1997). Agricultural land prices. Downloaded from http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/LTdirect/LTan0016.htm. Accessed 26 Oct 1999.

  • Udo, R. K. (1982). The human geography of tropical Africa. London and Nairobi: Heinemann Ibadan.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNEP. (2002). Africa environment outlook: Past present and future perspectives. UK: Earth Print Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) (1996). Website: http://www.unccd.int/convention/text/convention.php Accessed 3 May 2003.

  • Unwin, T. (1987). Household characteristics and agrarian innovation adoption in North-West Portugal. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 12(2), 131–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, T. O, Hiernaux, P, & Fernández-Rivera, S. N.D. Crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Determinants and intensification pathways.

    Google Scholar 

  • WMO – World Meteorological Organisation. (1986). Land use and agrosystem management under severe climatic conditions. Technical Note No. 184; WMO No. 633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodhouse, P. (2003). African enclosures: A default mode of development. World Development, 31(10), 1705–1720. Elsevier Ltd.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wunder, S. (2000). The economics of deforestation: The example of Ecuador. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Personal Communication

  • Lambin, E. 2002, Louvan-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Maro, P. S. 1999, 2000, 2001, Maseru, Lesotho, and 2005, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

    Google Scholar 

  • Maro, P.A. 1999, 2001. Personal observation

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Noordwijk, M. 2000 Bogor, Indonesia

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, C. 1999, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa, and 2002.Louvan-la-Neuve, Belgium.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pendo Maro .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maro, P. (2011). The Wealth of Knowledge: Drivers and Consequencies of Land-Use Change. In: Environmental Change in Lesotho. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1881-4_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics