Overview

What lies ahead for rural Africa, given a rapidly increasing population, climate change, poverty, inequality and projections of an increasing vulnerability to natural hazards and food shortages? Bringing together scholars in ecology, agriculture, economics, human geography and cultural anthropology, from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK, this book focusses on social-ecological transformation and future-making in rural Africa, especially in areas of rapid land-use change following the establishment of development corridors, conservation areas, and large-scale infrastructure projects. In Africa, discussions on the way forward are particularly conflict-ridden because people do not agree about desirable goals, because the gap between winners and losers seems to be bigger than elsewhere, and because the struggle for desirable futures is embedded in a problematic history of foreign domination and exploitation. Focussing on eastern and southern Africa, topics examined range from the history of conservation initiatives and wildlife protection to visions of green development, from the gender implications of extreme climate events on pastoral economies to the use of information and communication technologies on farms and mobile money in geographically remote territories, from large-scale energy infrastructure projects and growth corridors to local ways of managing risk. The volume opens with reflections on African utopic registers of the future and conceptual decolonization in African futurity. Published in association with the Collaborative Research Centre FUTURE RURAL AFRICA, funded by the German Research Council (DFG).

Full Product Details

Author:   Prof Dr Detlef Müller-Mahn ,  Prof Dr Michael Bollig
Publisher:   James Currey
Imprint:   James Currey
ISBN:  

9781847014221

ISBN 10:   1847014224
Pages:   318
Publication Date:   27 January 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents List of Illustrations Introduction Future Rural Africa - social-ecological transformation and future-making: An Introduction Detlef Müller-Mahn and Michael Bollig Part One Bringing Future-Making into Perspective - African Perspectives and the Decolonial Turn 1 On the African Utopic Registers of the Future Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2 Conceptual decolonization in African universities: an imperative for shaping African futures Martin Ajei Part Two Technologies, imaginaries, and practices of future-making in rural Africa 3 'In technology we trust': Digital Visions and their Implications for Agricultural Futures in Eastern Africa Astrid Matejcek, Rupert Neuhöfer, Julian Rochlitz and Julia Verne 4 Green Futures and National Planning: Rhetoric and Reality in Rural East Africa Eric Kioko, Detlef Müller-Mahn and Max Chuhilla 5 The growth-corridor vision and its realities - regional economic impacts in Namibia and Tanzania Javier Revilla Diez, Peter Dannenberg, Carolin Hulke, Linus Kalvelage, Gideon Tups and Richard Mbunda 6 The making of a resource periphery? Scalar politics, frontier dynamics, and future-making in Northern Kenya Clemens Greiner, Britta Klagge, Kennedy Mkutu, Frankline Ndi 7 Africa, The Conservation Continent? Future-Making and the Globalization of Wildlife Protection Hauke-Peter Vehrs and Michael Bollig Part Three For prayer, profit, and persistence - aspirations and hope in the future-making in rural Africa 8 Gendered African Futures and Extreme Climate Events in Turkana, Kenya Maggie Opondo, Gilbert Ouma, Anne Oketchand Dennis Ong'ech 9 Reimagining Africa's Rural Futures in the Age of Mobile Money Prince K Guma 10 'Joining the church' as a form of future-making? Il Chamus Christians' futural orientations in Baringo County, Northern Kenya Dorothea Schulz, Uroš Kovač 11 The politics of anticipation in East Africa's rangelands Ian Scoones, Tahira Shariff Mohamed and Masresha Taye Epilogue: African futures and the way forward Detlef Müller-Mahn and Michael Bollig

Reviews

Author Information

DETLEF MÜLLER-MAHN is Professor of Development Geography, University of Bonn. He served as the spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC-TRR 228) ""Future Rural Africa"" 2018-2021. His research focuses on the political ecology of land use change and rural development in East Africa and the Middle East. Eric Kioko). MICHAEL BOLLIG is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions