AFGROLAND's integrated research sought to link the agro-food-energy nexus to improve the understanding of how changes in the global agro-food-energy system affect countries in Africa. The project investigated the economic, social, and environmental impacts of changes in land use patterns driven by global development trends.
CETRAD hosted the Second workshop of the African Food, Agriculture and Land Use Change (AFGROLAND) project workshop in Nanyuki, after having held the first workshop in September 2015, at the Sportsman's Arms Hotel in Nanyuki. The workshop attracted 15 researchers and scientists (10 females and 5 males), from four countries (Kenya, South Africa, Switzerland, France, and Madagascar). The AFGROLAND project ran from March 2015 to 1st March 2018, aiming to improve the understanding of how changes in the global agro-food-energy system affect countries in Africa, with a focus on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of changes in land use patterns driven by global development trends.
The project was organized in work packages (WP), where WP1 examined the drivers of change and governance, with the focus on analyzing the changes and global policy trends interactions, and how these affected the changing patterns of investment in Africa; WP2 investigated the investment and production models developed in the context of local food systems; WP3 investigated land use as shaped by the production models, and its impacts on natural resources and soil-related ecosystem services; while WP4 examined how different forms of land-based investments and agricultural production models impacted food security at local and national levels. WP5 summed up synthesis, recommendation, and dissemination within all the WPs, intending to highlight the key outcomes and recommendations that could help reshape agriculture and land use.
The workshop combined the formal proceedings in the workshop sessions, plenary and field excursions that helped cement and fine tune the objectives and study sites of the project.