Title: Reversing the spiral: the population, agriculture, and environment nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa.

POPLINE Document Number: 101181

Author(s):

Cleaver KM
Schreiber GA

Source citation:

Washington, D.C., World Bank, 1994. xv, 293 p. (Directions in Development)

Abstract:

Recommendations are made to promote small family size and family planning according to cultural and agricultural/economic incentives and to create demand for sustainable agricultural technology and eliminate open-access land tenure. A market for fuelwood should be created and environmental degradation reduced through multiple policy changes, agricultural intensification, and land tenure reform. Environmental action plans should be generated and urban policies formulated based on spatial plans and the integration of population, environment, and agriculture. Community and individual management would be encouraged. Gender issues and risk perceptions of local people are important. Social organization is very complex and attention must be paid to the organization of production and consumption, decision making, and access to resources. Over 50% of African countries have instituted some form of macroeconomic and agricultural policy reforms. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, and Mauritius have made progress toward fertility decline, environmental protection, and agricultural growth. In many countries major efforts are still needed. Forest cover is decreasing at a rate of about 2.9 million hectares/year. Market-based agriculture has not advanced very rapidly due to lack in agricultural research, inappropriate agricultural marketing and pricing, and poor transportation systems. Increasing crop area has been the solution to increased population. Women are at the center of agricultural production in Africa and have heavy pressures on their time from the multiple roles of childbearing and rearing, family maintenance, and income-producing activities. Political and economic elites have gained access and control over open-access land and nationalized ownership to favor private investors and public projects. Fuelwood had been considered everyone's right, and markets for fuelwood have suffered. The African traditional production methods, land tenure systems, fuelwood provision, building materials, and gender roles were well suited only to low population size and growth. Degradation of environmental resources has been the result of rapid population growth and other factors such as civil wars and poor rural infrastructure.

Keywords:

Africa South of the Sahara
Technical Report
Population Growth
Agricultural Development
Environmental Degradation
Land Tenure
Climate
Demographic Transition
Female Role
Sustainable Development
Urbanization
Rural-Urban Migration
Natural Resources
Recommendations
Africa
Developing Countries
Population Dynamics
Demographic Factors
Population
Rural Development
Economic Factors
Environment
Socioeconomic Factors
Social Behavior
Behavior
Economic Development
Urban Population Distribution
Population Distribution
Geographic Factors
Migration