Africa is basically an agrarian state, with over 65 percent of its populace engaged in one form of farming or animal husbandry. Predominately, Africa’s agriculture is human-labour dependent, with near absence of mechanization in most production practices as well as being rural based. In most rural areas cropping is basically achieved through the use of simple tools such as hoes and cutlasses. Rural set-ups in most African states often lack basic amenities for comfortable life, with resultant effect on human migration from rural areas to urban centers.

As a quickly growing regional capital located in the Mediterranean littoral vineyard area, the city-region of Montpellier has recently constituted itself as a new local authority gathering 31 municipalities (Communauté d’Agglomération). Working out the territorial coherence scheme (Scot) was a priority step to structure the development project of this new territory, combining urban and rural dimensions.

This assessment report of strategies for the Montpellier case study presents three territorial levels: the Agglomeration, three communes in the context of agriculture dynamics and one commune which is involved in a flood protection plan. This study follows the general framework of the module 3 in the PLUREL project, which proposes to use criteria to assess the strategies and describe the regional level of performance in front of issues or challenges located in the urban fringe.

This compendium and analysis of Cities in the BRICS countries were developed through a partnership between the South African Cities Network (SACN) and the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning (SA&CP) at the University of the Witwatersrand. Since South Africa joined BRICS in 2010, multiple connections have been forged between South Africa and its alliance partners. However, although there is a growing volume of engagements, there is still inadequate knowledge and understanding across the BRICS.

Urban land markets have a profound effect on how well poor households are able to access the jobs, amenities and services offered in the city. But often the way in which this market works frustrates attempts to open up better located living and business opportunities for poorer urban households and communities, despite government policies and programmes intended to address these challenges. The challenge in South Africa is even larger because of worsening poverty and inequality, and the continuing growth of cities through urbanisation.

Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs.

Smallholder irrigation expansion would signi cantly increase agricultural production, and reduce food insecurity and poverty levels in East Africa. This paper reviews literature on trends, constraints and opportunities of smallholder irrigation in four East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Irrigation development has been slow in these countries, and has been mainly through traditional schemes.

Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs.