Enclosures as a land management tool for foodsecurity in African drylands

Journal article, 2019

Increasing sedentary agro-pastoralist livelihoods may be explained byland degradation, population pressure, agricultural commodification, andeconomic development. We reviewed scientific and‘grey’literature forthe effects of enclosures on food security. Only 8% of the 114 reviewedscientific articles addressed food production, while 69% approachedenvironmental parameters that indirectly affect food security, most ofwhich had positive results. Thirty-one percent focused on social andeconomic impacts, land tenure conflicts and elite capture with negativeconnotations. The‘grey’literature showed an opposite balance betweenpositive environmental views and negative socio-economic impacts.Enclosures are not a panacea for dryland development, but their useneed to be recognized and understood. Multidisciplinary research andcooperation on the applied management of enclosures in the context offood security is highly needed. Furthermore, agro-pastoralist land-use prac-tices need more policy space and practical management support, such asclear tenure legislation, agroforestry methodologies, and support in fodderproduction systems.