African Environmental Crisis

A History of Science for Development
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-032-17308-5
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 258 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 401 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in African Development

This book explores how and why the idea of the African environmental crisis developed and persisted through colonial and post-colonial periods, and why it has been so influential in development discourse. From the beginnings of imperial administration, the idea of the desiccation of African environments grew in popularity, but this crisis discourse was dominated by the imposition of imperial scientific knowledge, neglecting indigenous knowledge and experience.

African Environmental Crisis provides a synthesis of more than one-and-a-half century’s research on peasant agriculture and pastoral rangeland development in terms of soil erosion control, animal husbandry, grazing schemes, large-scale agricultural schemes, social and administrative science research, and vector-disease and pest controls. Drawing on comparative socio-ecological perspectives of African peoples across the East African colonies and post-independent states, this book refutes the hypothesis that African peoples were responsible for environmental degradation. Instead, Gufu Oba argues that flawed imperial assumptions and short-term research projects generated an inaccurate view of the environment in Africa.

This book’s discussion of the history of science for development provides researchers across environmental studies, agronomy, African history and development studies with a lens through which to understand the underlying assumptions behind development projects in Africa.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Oba, Gufu

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Entwicklungsstudien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 The African environmental crisis: Is it a myth? An introduction PART 1 EMPIRE, SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT 2 European exploration of East Africa: Textual analysis of travel narratives, 1831–1900 3 Imperial scientific infrastructure: Science for development, 1848–1960s 4 African environmental crisis narratives: Schemes, technology and development, 1904–1960 PART 2 ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 5 Experimental science and development: A re-evaluation of the Environmental crisis hypothesis, 1939–1960 6 Social science research: Behavioral responses to development, 1919–1950 7 Administrative science for development dialogue: Three Kenyan case studies, 1943–1954 PART 3 VECTORS, PESTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE 8 Tsetse fly control in East Africa: Environmental and social impacts, 1880–1959 9 Locust invasion and control in East Africa: Economic and environmental impacts, 1890–1960s 10 A synthesis: Conclusions and epilog

Über Autor(innen)

Gufu Oba is professor at the Faculty of Landscape and Society (LANDSAM) in the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His work is interdisciplinary; combining natural sciences, pastoralism and environmental history. His previous books include; Nomads in the shadows of empires (2013), Climate change adaptation in Africa (2014) and Herder warfare in East Africa (2017).