A systematic review of drivers and constraints on agricultural expansion in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Jellason, Nugun P., Robinson, Elizabeth J.Z. ORCID: 0000-0002-4950-0183, Chapman, Abbie S.A., Neina, Dora, Devenish, Adam J.M., Po, June Y.T. and Adolph, Barbara (2021) A systematic review of drivers and constraints on agricultural expansion in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Land, 10 (3). ISSN 2073-445X

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Abstract

Understanding the dynamics of agricultural expansion, their drivers, and interactions is critical for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem‐services provision, and the future sustainability of agricultural development in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there is limited understanding of the drivers of agricultural expansion. A systematic review of the drivers of agricultural expansion was conducted from 1970 to 2020 using Web of Science, Elsevier Scopus and Google Scholar. Two researchers reviewed the papers separately based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fifteen papers were included in the final systematic review. The paper proposed expansion pathways in a conceptual framework and identified proximate and underlying drivers. Population dynamics and gov-ernment policies were found to be key underlying drivers of agricultural expansion. The proximate drivers include economic opportunities such as agriculture mechanisation and cash crops produc-tion, and more troubling trends such as soil fertility decline and climate change and variability. This paper further explores the constraints that have been found to slow down agricultural expansion, including strong land institutions and good governance.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land
Additional Information:	This research was funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Global Challenges Research Fund programme, “Growing research capability to meet the challenges faced by developing countries” (“Grow”), grant number ES/P011306/1 © 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Grantham Research Institute
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited:	25 Jan 2022 16:27
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 19:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/113547

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