Current Land Use

 

 

 

The Interactive COMPETE Maps synthesise information from a range of high quality sources that have categorised and evaluated land use patterns in Africa with a view to identifying land (a) suitable for biomass production for energy, (b) suitable for biomass production for other uses, and; (c) filtering out land that is not available or not suitable for inclusion in future bioenergy land use scenarios.

 

For each of the 8 case study countries, an interactive map has been designed in order to easily determine why part of the land in the arid and semi-arid areas is not available or not suitable for biomass production for energy. Please, click on a country in the map on the right in order to access its profile and download its interactive map.

Detailed instructions on how to use the maps (including the glossary and the list of criteria) are provided here.

Due to the large size of the files, it is recommended that you download and save the file before working on it.

 

 

Areas identified as available and suitable for bioenergy crop production in the eight case study countries:

 

 

Country	Senegal	Burkina Faso	Mali	Kenya	Tanzania	Zambia	Botswana	South Africa
Total area km²	196 013	272 339	1 252 281	581 871	941 375	751 920	587 337	1 221 361
Arid region km²	14 093	5 117	389 734	230 888	n/a	n/a	128 289	378 418
Arid region %	7,1	1,9	31	39,7	n/a	n/a	22	31
km² of arid region available and suitable	10 200	0	121 397	209 760	n/a	n/a	102 193	353 937
% of arid region available and suitable	72	0	31	91	n/a	n/a	80	94
Semi-arid region km²	97 054	144 856	248 226	227 020	316 738	160 281	453 316	522 927
Semi-arid region %	49,5	53,1	19,8	39	33,6	21,3	78	42,8
km² semi-arid region available and suitable	5 583	22 756	71 041	169 938	147 252	67 383	189 667	368 944
% semi-arid region available and suitable	6	15	29	75	46	42	42	70
Arid & semi-arid km²	111 147	149 973	637 960	457 908	316 738	160 281	581 605	901 345
Arid & semi-arid region %	56,6	55	50,8	78,7	33,6	21,3	100	73,8
km² arid & semi-arid available & suitable	15 783	22 756	192 438	379 698	147 252	67 383	291 860	722 874
% arid & semi-arid available & suitable	14	15	30	82	46	42	51	79
Comparative ranking of available & suitable	8	7	4	2	5	6	3	1

 

 

For detailed information on current land use and patterns, please consult COMPETE Reports:

 

- NEW: Policy guidance note on integrating traditional land use and products into bioenergy policy (2009, pdf-file)

 

- NEW: Understanding traditional and modern land use dynamics in the African context (2009, pdf-file)

 

- 2008 Task Report on Current Land Use Patterns and Impacts (pdf-file)

 

- 2007 Task Report on Current Land Use Patterns and Impacts (pdf-file)

 

For further information, please contact:

• Dr. Helen Watson, University of KwaZulu-Natal (watsonh@ukzn.ac.za)

Or

• Dr. Rainer Janssen, WIP Renewable Energies (rainer.janssen@wip-munich.de)