Impact of farming on African landscapes

David K Wright

doi:10.1177/20530196221140145

journal article Open Access Dec 15, 2022

Impact of farming on African landscapes

David K Wright

The Anthropocene Review Vol. 10 No. 3 pp. 636-663 · SAGE Publications

View at Publisher Save 10.1177/20530196221140145

Abstract

As the continent with the deepest record of human history, the relationship between landscape formation and human subsistence practices is inseparable. The activities that constitute ‘farming’ are open for some matter of discussion, but essentially speak to the co-evolution of human, plant and animal reproductive systems along a continuum of interdependence. This process is ever evolving, but has resulted in the formation of landscapes in which anthropogenic processes characterize ecosystem functionality in nearly all biomes on the continent. Practices of cultivation, broadly conceptualized, across Africa are varied in the ways in which they have transformed ecological systems and landscapes. The use of fire as a landscape management tool dates to the Pleistocene, and penning of wild sheep to the early Holocene. The alteration of the landscape of fear by these types of human activities had fundamentally restructured trophic systems in Africa prior to the introduction of agriculture. However, the introduction of animal herding and intensive forms of plant cultivation by the middle Holocene correlated to even more significant ecological changes. The creation of agricultural landscapes has had a negative impact on biodiversity in some locations, whereas other some practices at different points in time have positively affected biodiversity. It is now recognized that humans have long influenced the evolution of landscapes wherever they live, but the current research focuses on where, when and how socio-ecological processes become coupled in the palaeoecological record.

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Details

Published: Dec 15, 2022
Vol/Issue: 10(3)
Pages: 636-663
License: View

Authors

D

David K Wright

University of Oslo, Norway; Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Cite This Article

David K Wright (2022). Impact of farming on African landscapes. The Anthropocene Review, 10(3), 636-663. https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221140145

Impact of farming on African landscapes

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