Environment
and Sustainable Development in Eastern Africa
Abstract
Ahmed,
Abdel Ghaffar M.; Mlay Wilfred (eds.) Environment and sustainable development in
Eastern and Southern Africa: Some critical issues.
OSSREA, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). 1998. x + 233p. Basingstoke (UK): Macmillan
Press
Ltd. Compilation of papers selected from those presented at OSSREA's
forth-triennial congress, held under the theme of the linkages between
development and environmental sustainability. After an introductory chapter that
highlights general issues related to the link between the environment and
development in Africa, the first three chapters address environment-development
interrelationships at a macro level, notably major socio-economic trends seen in
Africa during the 1970's and 1980's and their negative environmental impact,
extent to which population dynamics are responsible for environmental
degradation, and impact of Structural Adjustment Policies on environmental
degradation. Subsequent chapters present specific and local studies on response
of non-governmental organizations to the ecological crisis, food security and
environmental degradation, contribution of socio-cultural factors to famine and
drought, human and physical factors that accelerate soil erosion, farm size-land
productivity issues in agricultural development, technology transfer and
environmental conservation, sustainability of forest resources, agricultural
extension, impacts of drought, and consequences of apartheid land policies on
rural underdevelopment and environmental degradation. The papers are titled:
"Sustainable development in Africa in the 1990s and beyond: Meeting the
challenge", "Population dynamics and the environment",
"Adjustment programmes and the environment in sub- Saharan Africa: Some
exploratory results", "The response of non-governmental organizations
to the ecological crisis in the South with special reference to East
Africa", "Poverty alleviation and' food security in Tanzania: An
environmental perspective", "Drought ~d famine in eastern Sudan: The
socio-cultural dimension", "Soil erosion and conservation
techniques for sustainable crop production in Zimbabwe", "The promotion of
small farms in Swaziland: A sound agrarian policy, friendly to the
environment", "The impact of agricultural technology on sustainable
land resource utilization in Africa: The case of semi-arid Tanzania",
"Sustainability of forests in Kenya: Emerging issues",
"Agricultural extension policy in Malawi: Past experience and future
directions", "The impact of the 1991/92 drought in Zambia", and
"Restoring the land: Environment and change in a non-racial, democratic
South Africa".
* Full text of these chapters are available only in the print version which can be be ordered from OSSREA.