The Role of Sustainable Land Management for Climate ... - CAADP

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In terms of affected area, UNEP (1997) estimated that overgrazing was the most
important contributor to degradation, followed by poor agricultural practices and then by overexploitation
(see Table 3-2). It is useful to explore these causes in more detail because they shed
light on useful technological, institutional, and policy interventions that can reverse land
degradation processes and as well contribute positively to climate change adaptation and
mitigation.
In terms of land conversion, 15 million hectares of forests were cleared annually in
Africa during the 1980s, reducing slightly to 12 million per year in the 1990’s (FAO 2001a).
The rate of deforestation of 0.6% per year for the past 15 years is among the highest globally.
About 26% of deforestation is estimated to pave the way for smallholder agriculture (FAO
2001a). Studies have found that population growth is a good predictor of land use change, for
example in Uganda and Malawi (Otsuka and Place 2001). Between 1961 and 1999, agricultural
expansion accounted for two-thirds of crop production increase in sub-Saharan Africa, compared
to only 29% globally (MEA 2005). In the absence of growth in employment opportunities in
urban areas, rural population continues to grow rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa (at about 2.3%),
fueling the quest for new agricultural land.
With respect to rangelands, WRI (1994) estimated that between 1945 and 1992, almost
500 million hectares of African rangelands became degraded. Overgrazing was estimated to
have accounted for half of the degradation. However there is much unsettled debate about how
much of the observed degradation (e.g. vegetation loss) is due to management and how much to
climate changes. Both are clearly related, as climate change shocks, like a prolonged drought,
will lead to reduced vegetation to which herd size cannot be easily adjusted in the short term.
Hiernaux (1993) and Behnke and Scoones (1993) both indicate that unanticipated changes in
climate have had a more important impact on rangeland vegetation than rangeland management,
arguing therefore that rangeland degradation is not irreversible in most cases.
There are not many studies that quantify the extent of excessive exploitation of natural
habitats. Instead, studies often point towards the dependence of rural populations on the
resources found in natural habitats. In Zambia, for example, more than half the country’s
fuelwood is converted to charcoal, requiring the clearance of some 430 km 2 of woodland every
year to produce more than 100,000 tonnes of charcoal (Chenje 2000). In 2000, over 175 million
m 3 of wood were used in Western Africa for fuelwood and charcoal production (Broadhead et al
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