This study reviews how West African deforestation is represented and the evidence which informs deforestation orthodoxy. On a country by country basis (covering Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin), and using historical and social anthropological evidence the authors evaluate this orthodox critically. Reframing Deforestation suggests that the scale of deforestation wrought by West African farmers during the twentieth century has been vastly exaggerated. The authors argue that global analyses have unfairly stigmatised West Africa and obscured its more sustainable, even landscape-enriching practices. Stessing that dominant policy approaches in forestry and conservation require major rethinking worldwide, Reframing Deforestation illustrates that more realistic assessments of forest cover change, and more respectful attention to local knowledge and practices, are necessary bases for effective and appropriate environmental policies.

A study of the flowering plant flora of West Africa south of the Sahara with the emphasis upon species of ecological or economic importance.

Colobine monkeys have a unique digestive system, analagous to that of ruminants, which allows them to exploit foliage as a food source. This gives them a niche in Old World forests where they are often the only abundant medium-sized arboreal folivorous mammal. From a possible Miocene origin, Colobine monkeys have radiated into a wide variety of forms inhabiting a range of tropical woodlands in Africa and Asia. Most of the extant species have been subject to long term field studies, but until this book, no synthesis of work on this group has been available. The central theme of is that of adaptive radiation, showing how the special features of colobine anatomy interacted with a range of ecosystems to produce the distinctive species of today. The book discusses parallels with other mammalian groups, and will be of relevance to workers in evolutionary ecology, primatology and tropical ecology.

Food Crop Production by Smallholder Farmers in Southern Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Improvement evaluates traditional cultivation practices used by smallholder farmers, providing a synthesis of the latest information on increasing crop yield through adoption of research innovations. The book catalogs smallholder cultivation practices and recommends innovative strategies for improving the agriculture sector including: management practices that reduce net carbon emissions; technologies that improve soil structures and conserve the natural resources base; means of empowering female resources along value chains; and government commitment to adopt policies that enhance agriculture productivity by encouraging farmers to use environmentally sound cultivation technologies. Traditional farming techniques often produce negative impacts on the environment and ecosystem resulting in outbreaks of diseases and pests. In addition to the region's recurrent droughts, these outbreaks of numerous diseases and pests, weeds and other invasive plants put thousands at risk of poverty and hunger, as well as malnutrition. This book presents enhanced agricultural production technologies for ensuring adequate food production, safety and nutritional quality for the population of Southern Africa and forms the basis for an increased SADC regional effort in food production through which financial and trade institutions can improve stakeholder capacities, encourage micro-enterprise development and enhance employment and regional trade. - Provides a critical synthesis of data and information for increasing crop yield through adoption of research innovations - Evaluates traditional and scientific interventions that address food security issues of the poor farmers in the region - Presents agro-ecologies of countries in the region and how they relate to various cultivation practices - Catalogs smallholder cultivation practices and recommends innovative strategies for improving the agriculture sector

The ex-slave, Krio population of Freetown, Sierra Leone - an amalgam of ethnicities drawn from several parts of the African continent - is a fascinating study in hybridity, creolization, European cultural penetration, the retention of African cultural values, and the interface between New World returnees and autochthonous populations of West Africa. Although its Nigerian connections are often acknowledged, insufficient attention has been paid to the indigenous Sierra Leonean roots of this community. This anthology addresses this problem, while celebrating the complexities of Krio identity and Krio interaction with other ethnic groups and nationalities in the British colonial experience.

The second edition of this book, first published in 1991 and intended for students and researchers, contains revised and updated material on the theory and practice of nitrogen fixation in tropical cropping systems. There are 15 chapters in 3 parts. Part I, Introduction, contains 5 chapters on tropical environments (climate, soils and cropping systems), nitrogen fixing organisms, the process of nitrogen fixation, assessment of the role of nitrogen fixation, and cycling of nitrogen in tropical cropping systems. Part II, Tropical crops and cropping systems, comprises 7 chapters on freeliving, root-associated and endophytic nitrogen fixing bacteria of cereal crops and grasses, cyanobacteria and Azolla as green manure for wetland rice, grain legumes, legumes as green manures and cover crops, forage legumes, understorey legumes and shade trees in plantation crops, and nitrogen fixing trees in agroforestry. Part III, optimizing nitrogen fixation, includes 3 chapters on environmental constraints, approaches to enhancement, and future impacts on nitrogen fixation in tropical agriculture. A list of common names and subject index are included.

Africa is a fire continent. Since the early evolution of humanity, fire has been harnessed as a land-use tool. Many ecosystems of Sub-Sahara Africa that have been shaped by fire over millennia provide a high carrying capacity for human populations.