INVASIVE PLANTS AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE POTENTIAL OF EARTH OBSERVATION DATA

This policy briefing examines the impact of invasive plant species on food security in Africa and advocates for the use of Earth Observation (EO) data to map and manage these species. It highlights gaps in current policy frameworks and recommends that international and regional bodies integrate EO tools to protect agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods.

• Invasive plant species significantly reduce agricultural productivity in Africa, with some grain foods like maize seeing productivity drops of up to 45%. These species shrink rangelands, suppress staple crop growth, and negatively impact the livestock industry by lowering forage quality and poisoning animals.
• The spread of invasive species disproportionately affects the poor, particularly small-scale farmers and pastoralists, because they rely heavily on biodiversity-based goods and ecosystem services. In Africa, agriculture employs 60% of the total population and 80% of rural populations.
• Earth Observation (EO) technology is presented as a superior alternative to traditional ground-based mapping because it provides synoptic, up-to-date, and spatially uniform data over large or inaccessible areas. New free datasets, such as Sentinel-2, offer improved mapping accuracy for monitoring vegetation shifts across Africa.
• Current policy frameworks are insufficient to address invasive species. While the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Article 8 encourages control measures and the AU's 2014–2017 strategy identifies invasive species as a constraint to productivity, there is a lack of coherent strategies, standardized regional guidelines, and technical capacity for implementation.
• The document recommends that international bodies like GEOSS and UN-SPIDER include invasive species mapping in their training and outreach, and that the CBD and AU Commission amend their frameworks to prioritize the development of effective management protocols and the use of EO data.

APA

Landmann, T. (2017). INVASIVE PLANTS AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE POTENTIAL OF EARTH OBSERVATION DATA. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Policy-Briefing-160.pdf

Chicago

Landmann, Tobias. INVASIVE PLANTS AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE POTENTIAL OF EARTH OBSERVATION DATA. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Policy-Briefing-160.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Landmann |first1=Tobias |title=INVASIVE PLANTS AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE POTENTIAL OF EARTH OBSERVATION DATA |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Policy-Briefing-160.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{landmann2017invasive, author = {Landmann, Tobias}, title = {{INVASIVE PLANTS AND FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE POTENTIAL OF EARTH OBSERVATION DATA}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Policy-Briefing-160.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }