Rural communities in the drylands of sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) derive their livelihoods primarily from their natural resource base. Unprecedented changes in these environments over the past few decades are likely to intensify in the future and land users need to develop sustainable adaptation strategies. This study aims to identify land‐use and land‐cover (LULC) changes and their drivers in a sub‐Saharan dryland, between 1986 and 2017, by integrating local knowledge and remote sensing. Local knowledge and environmental perception are used as the basis for defining LULC classes and for training and validation of change detection. This study detects significant LULC changes in 41% of the investigated area, and identifies bush encroachment into former pastures as the dominant LULC change with an increase of woodland by 39% and a decrease of grassland by 74%. This process is perceived as severe degradation by local respondents and is linked to changing management regimes and unreliable rainfall patterns. Deforestation and woodland thinning account for 44% of the detected changes, and can be traced back to increased habitation and farming, although the local community also identifies charcoal production as a driving factor. The integration of remote sensing and local knowledge provides a holistic view on LULC change in Pokot Central, Kenya and offers a solid base for site‐specific and actor‐centred management approaches necessary for sustainable pathways of drylands. Our results emphasize the need to include local actors in the development of adaptation strategies and management guidelines for drylands.

When the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, public health measures were implemented globally. Early on, concerns grew that lockdowns and travel restrictions could have severe consequences, especially for marginalized communities in the Global South. In Sub-Saharan Africa, wood charcoal is not only an important cooking fuel, but provides income for many rural households. Despite its economic value, the charcoal sector is, however, largely unregulated and viewed exclusively as an environmentally damaging industry by policy makers and the public who make it responsible for large-scale deforestation. The present study employs a sustainable livelihood framework to assess the ability of charcoal producers in northwestern Kenya, to cope with a short-term shock such as the COVID-19 pandemic and preventive measures. It furthermore compares their access to health information to that of non-producers. A street survey of 139 respondents allowed to gain rapid insights into the realities of a group not accessible via online or telephone surveys. The results show that 87 % of charcoal producers face severe decline of this economic practice because of limited market access. These losses cause them food insecurities, while non-charcoal producers are more worried about social consequences of the restrictions. Though charcoal producers and non-producers feel equally well informed about the pandemic, producers are less likely to access reliable information channels than non-producers, resulting in an uneven distribution of health information across the community. By investigating the response of producers to an external shock and limited market access this study adds to the understanding of local vulnerabilities and the sustainability of rural livelihood strategies. This research argues for inclusive policy response to ensure consideration of the informal sector in crisis response as well as to provide adequate and low-threshold access to health information.

In many regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, charcoal plays an important role as energy source but is widely perceived as a major driver of deforestation and forest degradation. This narrative, however, is mostly based on research within primary production regions. Though space-borne remote sensing applications can be useful in monitoring such large-scale production modes, environmental effects of household-level production are less easy to assess. Therefore, the present study employs an unmanned aerial system (UAS) to assess the impact of small-scale charcoal production on the vegetation density in the immediate vicinity of production sites. The UAS data was complemented by field measurements and very high-resolution WordView-2 satellite imagery. This approach revealed only small differences between charcoal production sites and reference plots which were usually evened out after 20–25-m distance to the plot centre using a concentric ring analysis. Results further show that a distinction between different land-use practices is difficult, even with the high spatial resolution provided by a UAS. Thus, more research and new approaches are needed to evaluate the role of small-scale charcoal production in deforestation and forest degradation processes against the background of other human activities. However, to exploit the full potential of UAS for monitoring environmental effects in charcoal producing areas, official regulations need to be clearer and more reliable.

<p>Wood charcoal ranks amongst the most commercialized but least regulated commodities in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its prevalence as an energy source for cooking and heating, the localized environmental and livelihood impacts of charcoal production are poorly understood. This research deficit is amplified by widespread negative views of this activity as a poverty-driven cause of deforestation and land-degradation. However, the charcoal-degradation nexus is apparently more complicated, not least because the extraction of biomass from already degraded woodlands can be sustainable under various management regimes. In a case study in Central Pokot, Kenya, where charcoal production began in earnest in the early 1990’s we have investigated the social and environmental dynamics that are interlinked with the production of charcoal. Our methodological approach integrates remote sensing techniques with empirically based social scientific analyses across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Our results show that the area has undergone significant changes, both in the human and in the physical sphere. While the public opinion suggests a close connection between charcoal production and land degradation, a detailed Landsat-based land use and land cover change detection could not reveal a causal connection. In addition, a high-resolution analysis using an unmanned aerial system showed only minor effects of charcoal production on the vegetation. Our data indicates that rural small-scale production of charcoal has the potential to be transformed into a sustainable livelihood. Therefore, however, policy makers need to include their specific situation into the legal frameworks.</p>

This a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary.