Background: This study was aimed at examining land use/cover changes over 48 years and its causative factors in the Gumara watershed of Lake Tana basin, Northwestern Ethiopia. Two sets of aerial photograph (1957 and 1985) and a multispectral Spot5 image (2005) were used as inputs to produce three GIS-based land cover maps of the study area. Socio-economic surveys, focus group discussion and field observation were also used to determine the cause and effects of these land use/cover dynamics. Results:The results showed that cultivated and settlement land expanded by 21.99 %, whereas forest land, shrub land, grass land and wetland declined by 85.30, 91.39, 76.15 and 72.54 % over the analysis period respectively. Population pressure, demand for fuel wood and construction material, agricultural expansion and policy and tenure insecurity were the major driving forces behind the land use/cover change. Environmental and local livelihoods implications such as lake water and its aquatic resources and soil degradation, biodiversity loss and forest cover decline are resulted from the changes. Conclusion:The cumulative effect of these implications caused poverty and environmental degradation. Hence, there should be strategies of managing open access resources through participation of local people in the management. There should also be appropriate land use planning by identifying the proper land for specific purpose so that the marginal lands will not be put into agricultural use.

The informal sector in Zimbabwe employs more than 80 per cent of the population, whose livelihood strategies are under severe threat because of the COVID-19 lockdown. This paper examines the effects of the lockdown on the informal sector in Gweru. Anchored within the legalist theory of informality, the paper analyses the response of government to the plight of the informal sector in Zimbabwe. A qualitative research design was applied and convenience sampling implemented to select 30 individuals whose livelihood depended on informal cross-border trade, informal transport, forex trading, hairdressing, and street vending. Results reveal that despite many involved in the informal sector having lost their means of survival during the COVID-19 lockdown, the government introduced additional restrictions on this sector, thus almost destroying it. In the absence of government assistance, many have adapted their operations, albeit through illegal activities. The study offers recommendations that may ensure the survival of the informal sector beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. This is important, given that the informal sector is the largest contributor to household income and food security in Zimbabwe.

This study assessed land cover change and topographic elevation on selected soil quality parameters in the Kasso catchment, southeastern Ethiopia. Twenty-seven soil samples collected from 0-30cm depth under four land cover types across three elevation gradients were analysed for selected soil quality parameters. Results indicated that soil particle size distribution is different (p<0.001) in the catchment because of the effect of land cover change and elevation. Most cultivated lands occupy lower elevations where clay accumulates as a result of its movement from higher to lower elevations. Ploughing accentuates weathering, making cultivated lands richer in finer materials. Cation exchange capacity and exchangeable magnesium and potassium negatively correlated with elevation, total nitrogen and available phosphorous. Conversion of natural vegetation to cropland contributed to changes in pH (p<0.05), exchangeable calcium (p<0.01), potassium (p<0.001), available phosphorous (p<0.01) and nitrogen (p<0.01) contents. Parameter soil degradation index results showed that soil organic carbon, nitrogen, available phosphorous and exchangeable potassium contents declined and bulk density increased because of the land cover change. This negative effect on agricultural development and environmental health of the catchment makes an integrated land resource management approach indispensable for sustaining agricultural productivity and the environmental health of the Kasso catchment.

By deploying various perspectives on urban informality as an analytical lens, this paper explores why African immigrant traders in the Johannesburg (South Africa) inner city have resorted to informal street trading, in the midst of challenges relating to, among others, harassment by regulatory authorities and lack of the necessary trading licences. Using a qualitative study of 40 African immigrant traders, this study suggests as simplistic the explanation that African immigrant traders continue to set up businesses and trade in the Johannesburg inner city, because they were only escaping from, among others, poverty and exploitation. Insights from this study seem to suggest that they also engage in street trading because of the lure of less or no stringent controls and the possibility of earning higher incomes. Such insights seem to complicate the perception by African immigrant traders that they engaged in street trading simply because of discrimination, xenophobia and the devaluing of their qualifications. This raises implications regarding the complexity of reasons why African immigrants in a setting like the Johannesburg inner city engage in street trading.

Gender issues, and gender equality in particular, can be regarded as cross-cutting issues in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), even though it is unclear how they are taken into account. This study addresses this information gap by performing an assessment of the emphasis on gender issues across all the other 16 SDGs, in addition to SDG5, through a literature review and case study analysis, the basis for the newly developed framework, highlighting specific actions associated to each SDG. The 13 countries addressed in the 16 case studies include China, India, or Australia and illustrate the inclusion of SDG5 into the SDGs. Using an SDG matrix, the SDG targets are analysed. Those where an emphasis on gender equality is important in allowing them to be achieved are listed. The novelty of our approach resides in offering an in-depth analysis of how gender issues interact with the other SDGs, proposing a new analysis framework clearly identifying SDGs 1, 4, 11, 12, 14 and 16 demanding further attention for successful SD gender implementation and illustrating specific areas where further actions may be necessary, which may be used by policy-makers, raising further awareness on gender equality contribution to achieve the SDGs. A set of recommendations aimed at placing gender matters more centrally in the SDGs delivery are presented as a final contribution. These focus on the need for greater awareness and attention to good practices, to achieve successful implementation initiatives. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02656-1.