Earth, Water, Air, and Fire – Thinking about Farming and Farmscapes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11448034 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexa Höhn (0000-0003-2943-7858, Goethe University Frankfurt), Emmanuel Mushayikwa (0000-0002-6619-6371, University of the Witwatersrand), Maria H Schoeman (0000-0002-3680-4276, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author), Alex Schoeman |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 493-505 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Archaeological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0263-0338 • E-ISSN: 1572-9842 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10437-023-09542-9 |
| OpenAlex | W4386193519 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
Farming has changed the face of the earth in Africa as much as elsewhere. But histories of African farmscapes, shaped by millennia of agriculture, are obscured by narratives of pristine landscapes, whether of forests or savanna, and the role of farming in transforming African farmscapes is seldom taught in schools. We present examples of farming strategies and systems from western and southern Africa, which we hope are inspiring and maybe, at times, even surprising. Our exploration of the farmscapes, structured along the classical elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, describes how plants and people deal with the influence these elements have on successful farming and how these influences show up in farmscapes. We hope these stories of flexibility, adaptation, and success and failure motivate teachers and students to think out of the box in grappling with the challenges our world is facing. These stories also provide opportunities for teaching about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the goals of Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), and Life on Land (SDG 15)
Adaptation (eye · Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Earth (classical element · Earth science · Earth system science · Economics · Environmental ethics · Environmental resource management · Face (sociological concept · Flexibility (engineering · Geography · Management · Narrative · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Sustainability · Sustainable development · African Botany and Ecology Studies · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Environmental Science · Psychology · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Ecology · Geology
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After the flood and with the people – Late Holocene changes of the woody vegetation in the southwestern Chad Basin, Nigeria
Shifting cultivation and the development of a cultural landscape during the Iron Age (0–1500 AD) in the northern Sahel of Burkina Faso, West Africa
Past Climatic Conditions for Bokoni at Buffelskloof, Mpumalanga, Using δ13C Analysis of Prunus africana and Pittosporum viridiflorum Tree Rings
Precolonial Agricultural Terracing in Bokoni, South Africa
Climate change and human disturbance of fynbos vegetation during the late Holocene at Princess Vlei, Western Cape, South Africa
Remains of woody plants from Saouga, a medieval west African village
Direct evidence for agricultural intensification during the first two millennia AD in northeast Burkina Faso
Towards a Better Understanding of Sub-Saharan Settlement Mounds before AD 1400
Bokoni
Where are the gardens? Early Iron Age horticulture in the Thukela River Basin of South Africa
| Highly cited | No |
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