Multifunctional land-use systems - a solution for food security in Africa?

Abstract

This chapter describes multifunctional land-use practices, recounting their history in a global context while focusing on the drivers behind these practices and how they relate to food security. Despite the lack of a common definition, which complicates quantifying the geographical spread of multifunctional land-use practices, different attempts to assess the global coverage are presented. We discuss the trade-offs inherent to the multiple outputs of multifunctional land-use systems. We also discuss general drawbacks and benefits. Methods and approaches for assessing multifunctional land-use systems are given, including some used in the chapters. Some of these methods can help generate more evidence to meet the demand for new ways of thinking about farming systems.