Livelihood and Landscape Change in Africa: Future Trajectories for Improved Well-Being under a Changing Climate

Abstract

This Special Issue was invited by LAND as a follow-up on the Special Issue on “Changing Land Uses, Changing Livelihoods,”, published in 2016, but with a specific focus on Africa and on exploring the linkages between various aspects of human—environmental change and climate change. Given that Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions globally to climate change, we felt a focus on this region was timely and critical. Improved knowledge on the complex interactions between the multiple drivers of landscape and livelihood change and the impacts of and responses to these changes is required if we are to consider future pathways that are African-led, equitable, and just and that take account of local contexts, cultures, complexities, and realities. Too often development and landscape management interventions and adaptation options are imported from elsewhere and consequently de-contextualized and de-politicized, ignoring the legacies of colonialism, as well as important local sociocultural contexts. See Editorial for Special Issue: “Livelihood and Landscape Change in Africa: Future Trajectories for Improved Well-Being under a Changing Climate”.