Short description:

It is increasingly recognized that land can be managed most sustainably through involving local communities. This book highlights the potential of a new methodology of uncovering and stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management in Africa.

Long description:

It is increasingly recognized that land can be managed most sustainably through involving local communities. This book highlights the potential of a new methodology of uncovering and stimulating community initiatives in sustainable land management in Africa. 

Analyses of four contrasting African countries (Ghana, Morocco, South Africa and Uganda) show that as communities directly face the challenges of land degradation, they are likely to develop initiatives themselves in terms of sustainable land management. These initiatives (or ?innovations?) may be more appropriate and sustainable than those emanating from research stations located far from the communities. The book describes the rationale of the approach used, the set of steps followed, how the project managed to engage the communities to understand the importance of the activities they were undertaking, and how they were stimulated to improve and extend their initiatives and innovativeness. 

Examples covered include soil fertility, community forestry, afforestation, water, invasive species and grazing land management. Central to the book is the way communities, and scientists, interacted between the four countries and learnt from each other. The book also shows how the initiatives were outscaled locally.

"This book serves as an important inventory and source of knowledge about the new approach needed to tackle some of the challenges facing human kind in the present era. The book will be relevant for a very long time as a lesson to scholars and a reference for policy makers." ? from the foreword by Albert T. Modi, Dean and Head of School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Table of Contents:

1. Stimulating Community Initiatives in Sustainable Land Management (SCI-SLM): An Introduction  William Critchley, Maxwell Mudhara and Mohamed Sessay  2. Local Innovation: Theory, Experience and the Basis for SCI-SLM  William Critchley and Sabina Di Prima  3. SCI-SLM Methodology: Origins of the Design  Sabina Di Prima and William Critchley  4. SCI-SLM: Innovation Begins at Programme Level  Maxwell Mudhara and Mohamed Sessay  5. Community Innovations in Sustainable Land Management: Lessons from Northern Ghana  Saa Dittoh , Conrad A. Weobong, Margaret A. Akuriba and Cuthbert Kaba Nabilse  6. Community Initiatives for Sustainable Natural Resource Management in the High Atlas, Morocco  M. Mahdi, Z. Tijani, M. Tami, and W. Tuyp  7. Stimulating Community Initiatives in Sustainable Land Management in South Africa  Avrashka Sahadeva, Maxwell Mudhara Michael Malinga, and Zanele Shezi  8. Community Initiatives for Improving Degraded Ecosystems in Uganda  Stephen Muwaya, Richard Molo, John Ssendawula, Swidiq Mugerwa, Alex Lwakuba and Sabina Di Prima  9. Cross-learning with Community Initiatives  Wendelien Tuijp, Saa Dittoh, Mohamed Mahdi and Maxwell Mudhara  10. Contributing to Global Environmental Benefits  Saa Dittoh, Maxwell Mudhara and Conrad Weobong with Stephen Muwaya and Mohammed Mahdi  11. SCI-SLM Methodology: Refinement of the Original Design  Sabina Di Prima, William Critchley, and Eva van de Ven  12. Lessons Learned and Conclusions  William Critchley, Sabina Di Prima, Maxwell Mudhara and Saa Dittoh