TY - CHAP A1 - Rötter, Reimund P. A1 - Nkomo, Mandla A1 - Meyer zu Drewer, Johannes A1 - Veste, Maik ED - Maltitz, Graham P. von ED - Midgley, Guy F. ED - Veitch, Jennifer ED - Brümmer, Christian ED - Viehberg, Finn A. ED - Veste, Maik T1 - Agricultural Land-Use Systems and Management Challenges T2 - Sustainability of Southern African Ecosystems under Global Change N2 - This chapter aims at providing an overview of the diversity of agroecological conditions, features of main farming systems, agricultural land use, its dynamics and drivers during the last two decades as well as major threats in ten countries of southern Africa (SA10). Based on this, we attempt to identify the resultant challenges for sustainable land management and outline potential interventions with a focus on smallholder farmers. By analyzing cropland dynamics during 2000–2019, we show how land use has been shaped by climate, demographic development, economic imperatives and policy realities. Concrete examples of these complex interactions illustrate both considerable shrinkage in South Africa and Zimbabwe or expansion of cropland in Mozambique and Zambia. During the past 20 years, cropland increased by 37% on average across SA10 mainly at the expense of forestland—showing huge spatiotemporal heterogeneity among countries. Most smallholders face shrinking farm size and other resource limitations that have resulted in soil nutrient mining and low agricultural productivity—a highly unsustainable situation. We conclude with an outlook on potential transformation pathways (“TechnoGarden” and “AdaptiveMosaic”) for the near future and thereby provide a frame for further studies on sustainable land management options under given local settings. KW - Agroecology KW - Climate Change KW - Southern Africa KW - SPACES II Y1 - 2024 UR - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5_20 SN - 978-3-031-10947-8 SN - 978-3-031-10948-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5_20 SP - 551 EP - 586 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Maltitz, Graham P. von A1 - Bieri, Mari A1 - Midgley, Guy F. A1 - Veitch, Jennifer A1 - Brümmer, Christian A1 - Rötter, Reimund P. A1 - Veste, Maik ED - Maltitz, Graham P. von ED - Midgley, Guy F. ED - Veitch, Jennifer ED - Brümmer, Christian ED - Rötter, Reimund P. ED - Viehberg, Finn A. ED - Veste, Maik T1 - Coupled Earth System and Human Processes: An Introduction to SPACES and the Book T2 - Sustainability of Southern African Ecosystems under Global Change N2 - Ecosystems in southern Africa are threatened by numerous global change forces, with climate change being a major threat to the region. Many climate change impacts and environmental-based mitigation and adaptation options remain poorly researched in this globally important biodiversity hotspot. This book is a collection of chapters covering research undertaken in southern Africa by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) SPACES and SPACES II programs. SPACES II covered a wide range of global change-linked environmental issues ranging in scope from the impacts of ocean currents on global climate systems through to understanding how small-scale farmers may best adapt to the impacts of climate change. All the research has identified policy implications, and the book strives for a balance between presenting the detailed science underpinning the conclusions as well as providing clear and simple policy messages. To achieve this, many chapters in the book contextualize the issues through the provision of a mini-review and combine this with the latest science emulating out of the SPACES II program of research. The book therefore consolidated both past and the most current research findings in a way that will be of benefit to both academia and policy makers. KW - Southern Africa KW - Ecosystem Research KW - Ecology KW - Conservation Biology KW - Climate Change Y1 - 2024 UR - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5 SN - 978-3-031-10947-8 SN - 978-3-031-10948-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10948-5 SP - 3 EP - 21 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER -