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Photo of Hakim Abdi

Hakim Abdi

Researcher

Photo of Hakim Abdi

Mapping and quantifying perceptions of environmental change in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Author

  • Emma Johansson
  • Abdulhakim Abdi

Summary, in English

Large-scale land acquisitions are a critical driver of global socio-environmental change, in particular in the Global South. This study aims to investigate drivers, impacts and feedbacks of environmental change in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, a region in rapid societal and environmental transformation. We use land cover classifications to map and quantify land cover changes from 1990 to 2016, and compare these with local perceptions of change from fieldwork conducted in 2015 and 2016. The land change detection clearly shows farmland expansion over the wetlands, which is in line with local perceptions, but fails to detect changes in forest cover, which contradicts local perceptions that proclaim rapid deforestation over the past decade. In order to move towards more inclusive sustainable development, there is a need to break the power asymmetries between agribusinesses and local farmers. Our approach posits that policies of importing regions and countries where land is leased need to be strengthened to make sure that agribusinesses establish farms that are consistent with local and domestic needs. Such policies should not only be informed by assessments of environmental change, but also be guided by local knowledge, needs and future aspirations.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science

Publishing year

2020-02

Language

English

Pages

557-568

Publication/Series

Ambio: a Journal of the Human Environment

Volume

49

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media B.V.

Topic

  • Human Geography
  • Climate Science
  • Earth Observation
  • Multidisciplinary Geosciences

Keywords

  • Deforestation
  • Land acquisitions
  • Mixed methods
  • Participatory research
  • Remote sensing
  • Socio-environmental change
  • Tanzania
  • Africa

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0044-7447