Preface
Despite being the continent with the least amount of land degradation, the pressure
on soils in Africa is currently enormous and continuously increasing due to a range
of factors including poverty, overexploitation, population growth, and climate
change.
The protection and sustainable management of soils is a precondition for sustainable development and even more so for the subsistence of humankind. Without
ample areas of fertile soils, there is no food security and zero chance to mitigate
climate change. Degraded soils result in hunger, famine, migration, and, under
certain circumstances, even conflicts. This is particularly true for African states.
For example, attaining food security is particularly illusive because agricultural
productivity remains low in Africa. Overstocking, overgrazing, water erosion,
landslides, and over-application of agro-chemicals are impediments for sustainable
agriculture. In addition, the poor section of the population heavily depends on land
and other natural resources for immediate needs, which in turn is an additional driver
for land degradation.
The Workshop on “Legal instruments for the effective protection and sustainable
management of soils” was held at Hotel Africana, Kampala, from 26 to
27 September, 2017. It was jointly organized by the German Environment Agency,
the “Climate Policy and Energy Security Program for Sub-Saharan Africa” of the
Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, the Makerere University, and Kampala International
University. The workshop was attended by about 50 experts from African countries
and abroad as well as from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the
International Union for Conservation of Nation (IUCN), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the African Soil Partnership, and the German
Foundation for International Cooperation (GIZ). The workshop was a milestone
for soil protection in Africa as it addressed the most critical regulatory issues and
brought together key experts and actors on this topic.
This volume documents the discussions held at this workshop, publishing some
of the presentations together with further substantially related chapters and the
so-called Kampala outcome document, which was put together by the organizers
xiii
Despite being the continent with the least amount of land degradation, the pressure
on soils in Africa is currently enormous and continuously increasing due to a range
of factors including poverty, overexploitation, population growth, and climate
change.
The protection and sustainable management of soils is a precondition for sustainable development and even more so for the subsistence of humankind. Without
ample areas of fertile soils, there is no food security and zero chance to mitigate
climate change. Degraded soils result in hunger, famine, migration, and, under
certain circumstances, even conflicts. This is particularly true for African states.
For example, attaining food security is particularly illusive because agricultural
productivity remains low in Africa. Overstocking, overgrazing, water erosion,
landslides, and over-application of agro-chemicals are impediments for sustainable
agriculture. In addition, the poor section of the population heavily depends on land
and other natural resources for immediate needs, which in turn is an additional driver
for land degradation.
The Workshop on “Legal instruments for the effective protection and sustainable
management of soils” was held at Hotel Africana, Kampala, from 26 to
27 September, 2017. It was jointly organized by the German Environment Agency,
the “Climate Policy and Energy Security Program for Sub-Saharan Africa” of the
Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, the Makerere University, and Kampala International
University. The workshop was attended by about 50 experts from African countries
and abroad as well as from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the
International Union for Conservation of Nation (IUCN), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the African Soil Partnership, and the German
Foundation for International Cooperation (GIZ). The workshop was a milestone
for soil protection in Africa as it addressed the most critical regulatory issues and
brought together key experts and actors on this topic.
This volume documents the discussions held at this workshop, publishing some
of the presentations together with further substantially related chapters and the
so-called Kampala outcome document, which was put together by the organizers
xiii