Regional perspectives on agriculture and biodiversity in the drylands of Africa

This is a keynote paper focusing on regional perspectives on agriculture and biodiversity by exploring the situation in Northern Africa, the West African Sahel, East Africa and the Horn, and Southern Africa. The paper establishes that in all these regions agriculture accelerates loss of biodiversity because of attempts by farmers to increase crop and animal production to feed the increasing population and contribute to the growth of the national economies. Harmful agricultural practices, such as overcultivation, overgrazing, bush fires, cultivation of marginal and easily eroded land, mechanization and the widespread use of chemicals and pesticides, have intensified the degradation of the soil and vegetation and led to rapid decline of species types and their numbers. Agriculture and biodiversity can be complementary activities. If properly managed, agriculture should enhance and not be the enemy of biodiversity in the drylands of Africa. There is need to assess the agricultural potential of the semi-arid environments and develop specific agricultural policies or programmes to enhance their sustainable utilization and conservation of biodiversity. Information contained in this paper was gathered from the existing literature