Miombo Woodlands And Rural Livelihoods In Malawi

Miombo woodlands and their use: overview and key issues. The ecology of miombo woodlands. Population biology of miombo tree. Miombo woodlands in the wider context: macro-economic and inter-sectoral influences. Rural households and miombo woodlands: use, value and management. Trade in woodland products from the miombo region. Managing miombo woodland. Institutional arrangements governing the use and the management of miombo woodlands. Miombo woodlands and rural livelihoods: options and opportunities.

This publication focuses on the links between food security, nutrition and wood energy in the Miombo woodlands, one of the most important forest ecosystems in southern Africa. Miombo woodland is a key dryland forest ecosystem stretching across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique,Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are considered one of the most globally important biodiversity hotspots. They sustain the livelihoods of close to 100 million rural poor through the provision of wood energy, food and nutrition. Miombo woodlands are increasingly under threat from a growing population, expansion of agricultural land, overuse of forest resources and unsustainable management. With the impacts of climate change already contributing to rising food insecurity in many parts of the world and with growing biodiversity loss, bringing the Miombo countries together to share best practices towards addressing common challenges facing the woodlands is vital.

This study explores policies, incentives and options for the rural poor who depend on the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa. Because of the important role of forests as social safety nets, planners must keep in mind the cost of deforestation and degradation to rural populations.

The dry forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa are major ecosystems, with a broad range of strong economic and cultural incentives for keeping them intact. However, few people are aware of their importance, compared to tropical rainforests, despite them being home to more than half of the continent's population. This unique book brings together scientific knowledge on this topic from East, West, and Southern Africa and describes the relationships between forests, woodlands, people and their livelihoods. Dry forest is defined as vegetation dominated by woody plants, primarily trees, the canopy of which covers more than 10 per cent of the ground surface, occurring in climates with a dry season of three months or more. This broad definition - wider than those used by many authors - incorporates vegetation types commonly termed woodland, shrubland, thicket, savanna, wooded grassland, as well as dry forest in its strict sense. The book provides a comparative analysis of management experiences from the different geographic regions, emphasizing the need to balance the utilization of dry forests and woodland products between current and future human needs. Further, the book explores the techniques and strategies that can be deployed to improve the management of African dry forests and woodlands for the benefit of all, but more importantly, the communities that live off these vegetation formations. Thus, the book lays a foundation for improving the management of dry forests and woodlands for the wide range of products and services they provide.

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) – FAW, a dangerous transboundary pest native to the Americas, has been spreading rapidly to all sub-regions of Africa since 2016, causing significant yield losses to crops. Farmer education and community action are critical elements in the strategy to best manage FAW populations, using an integrated and ecological pest management approach. Farmer Field School (FFS), a holistic farmer education approach used in over 90 countries, will be a key component of the response effort.This guide seeks to provide guidance on how to conduct FFS on the integrated and sustainable management of the FAW in Africa, with emphasis on maize as FAW’s preferred host plant. It provides information on the biology and ecology of FAW; field studies and exercises for use in season-long FFS; and suggestions on how to build a training programme for rural advisory services/extension on FAW and FFS refresher courses of Master Trainers and Facilitators.

Based on work by the Miombo Network in southern Africa, this book helps decision-makers and general readers alike improve their understanding of the socio-ecology of the Miombo woodlands across southern Africa. It also highlights the importance of and the need for further research on the unique Miombo ecology and its link with economic development. One major challenge facing these woodlands is the influence that direct (both natural and anthropogenic) and indirect drivers of change, as well as interactions between these, have had over the centuries. As such the book explores the socio-economic and ecological interactions that occur in these woodlands and discusses the need for further research to provide a better understanding of these interactions. Drawing on data and information from numerous studies conducted in the last 20 years, the book presents a comparative analysis of policy changes and management experiences in the countries concerned. It also addresses issues of global climate change, since they have an impact on Miombo ecosystem management and restoration, and provides future projections based on an assessment of how climate change has affected the Miombo woodlands in the past.

In the Miombo ecoregion (2,865,000 km² or 9.1% of Africa), the Zambezian open forest constitutes the main vegetation unit. It extends to no less than eight countries, from Burundi in the North to South Africa in the South, and from Angola in the West to Mozambique in the East. The austral part of Africa's open forests falls within the Zambezian Regional Center of Endemism outlined by White in 1983. This book focuses mainly on the wetter Zambezian Miombo woodlands. Also patches of mosaic Zambezian dry evergreen forests and small areas of grasslands on Kalahari sands are incorporated in the study. The aim of this book is to gather together the amazing local environment knowledge of Zambezian open forests peoples in order to permit an easier improvement of their well-being. This research has been developed in an ethnoecological way of thinking. Indeed, the synergy arising from putting together local knowledge and updated ecological research provides huge information on ecosystem management, including biodiversity aspects. Ethnoecology is an emergent field that focuses on local peoples' perception and management of complex and co-evolved relationships between the cultural, ecological, and economic components of anthropogenic and natural ecosystems. In the present book, the Zambezian wild edible products are treated according to fourteen items (from fungi, plants and honey, to beverages and salt, through mammals, birds, fish, insects and other animals). Some other comments concern agriculture and ethnoecology. All together more than a thousand edible products are involved; their ecology, their phenology, as well as their nutritional values are presented and discussed. The iconography is supported by a CD with 387 color photographs. The earlier French version of 1997 has been reviewed and enlarged, taking into account recent progress of knowledge. An important bibliography is presented.