The Project is funded as a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant under Grant Agreement N°677140: http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/203217_en.html
Theoretical Objectives
The project will develop and test integrated middle-range theories explaining the linkages between three of the major processes in land systems, i.e., (i) land use intensification and expansion, (ii) land use displacement and trade, and (iii) land use transitions or regime shifts.
Study region
The work will focus on the emerging agricultural frontier of Southern African dry forests and savannas, which is a threatened and understudied region, and its linkages with distant places.
The work is starting in Mozambique, in particular the northern provinces of Nampula, Niassa, Zambezia and Cabo Delgado.
Workpackages
The project is built in four steps, analyzing:
(i) The strategic field of actors’ coalitions, institutions and distant linkages in emerging frontiers;
(ii) Links between land use displacement, leakage, and local land changes;
(iii) Pathways of agricultural expansion and intensification in tropical landscapes; and
(iv) The conditions for transformative governance of land systems to foster resilient landscapes that sustain ecosystem services and livelihoods.
MIDLAND Project 