Recognizing the diversity of farmers is crucial for the success of agricultural, rural, or environmental programs and policies aimed at the sustainable use of natural resources. In this study, based on survey data collected in the Kilombero Valley Floodplain (KVF) in Tanzania, we design a typology of farmers to describe the range of farm types and farming systems systematically, and to understand their livelihood and land use behavior. The KVF is the largest, low-altitude, seasonally-flooded, freshwater wetland in East Africa.

For almost two decades, the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) in general and northeast Nigeria in particular have been subject to the insurgency of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. This region is also known for its poor environmental conditions that mostly manifest in land desertification and water scarcity. We analyze the impact of the insecurity and conflict on migration from the most affected rural areas of northeast Nigeria to Maiduguri. We also explore the role that water scarcity and land desertification play in the decision of local people to migrate.

The plant–microbe–soil nexus is critical in maintaining biogeochemical balance of the biosphere. However, soil loss and land degradation are occurring at alarmingly high rates, with soil loss exceeding soil formation rates. This necessitates evaluating marginal soils for their capacity to support and sustain plant growth. In a greenhouse study, we evaluated the capacity of marginal incipient basaltic parent material to support native plant growth and the associated variation in soil microbial community dynamics.