The Greening of Africa. Breaking Through in the Battle for Land and Food [Paperback]

Paul Harrison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9966831347 | ISBN-13: 978-9966831347 | Publication Date: January 1, 1988 | Edition: 2

Paul Harrison, author of the classic bestseller Inside the Third World (Penguin 1992), analyzes Africa's chronic environmental and agricultural problems and surveys the most promising and successful low-cost, low-input approaches to farming, forestry and soil and water conservation.
Provides a realistic blueprint that could revolutionize Africa's prospects in an affordable future that this major study proves can work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent introduction for anyone who wants to understand why Africa is in its present plight and how it may escape. Harrison is a very skilled writer." The Scotsman. --The Scotsman

"A timely, compelling and important read." --New Scientist

"An excellent introduction for anyone who wants to understand why Africa is in its present plight and how it may escape. Harrison is a very skilled writer." --The Scotsman

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Academy Science Publ.; 2 edition (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9966831347
• ISBN-13: 978-9966831347
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,706,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an environmental writer editor and photographer, and the founder and president of the World Pantheist Movement.
I was born in Oldham, Lancashire, United Kingdom, and schooled at Manchester Grammar School.
After a gap year working with disadvantaged and handicapped children in Germany, I studied European languages and literature at Cambridge, spent a year at the University of Pisa on a Council of Europe scholarship, and did a Masters in political sociology at the London School of Economics.
In 1968-9 I lectured on French language and literature at the University of Ife in Nigeria. Somewhat later in life, in 1995, I got my Ph. D. from Cambridge in Earth Sciences and Geography.
For most of my life, I have been a writer on environment and Third-World development. I trained as a journalist on the Western Mail in Wales, and worked for three years with the social affairs magazine New Society in London.
In 1975 I went freelance and specialized in writing and photography about poverty and environment in developing countries.
My best known books are Inside the Third World (1979) and The Third Revolution (1993) (on population and environment). I also wrote Inside the Inner City (1983) about inner city poverty in East London, and The Greening of Africa (1987) about sustainable development for Africa.
PLEASE NOTE: The Amazon description of the Africa book is completely erroneous due to a mix-up with another title: I did NOT join Museveni's rebel army in 1982, I was NOT a member of Uganda's Constituent Assembly, and I am not yet deceased!

I have edited the flagship reports of UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Population Fund and the UN Environment Programme, and traveled to many Third-World countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
In 1988 I received a UN Environment Programme Global 500 award for my writings on environment and in 1992 a Population Institute Global Media Award.
I was editor-in-chief for the Independent Commission on Population and Quality of Life's report Caring for the Future (1996). In 2001 I was the lead author of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Atlas of Population and Environment. Between 2004 and 2008 I edited the United Nations Environment Programme's annual report (formerly known as Geo Yearbook).
In July 1996 I posted the first page of what became the scientific pantheism site, and in 1997 I started the mailing list that grew into the World Pantheist Movement. My pocket handbook on pantheism, Elements of Pantheism, was published by Element Books in 1999.
I lived for most of my adult life in Hampstead, London, close to Hampstead Heath. Since 2002 I have lived in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains in California. I have two sons, Alex and Sam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent survey of soil and water conservation in Africa, April 30, 2009

By 

Paul A. Harrison (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Greening of Africa. Breaking Through in the Battle for Land and Food (Paperback)

I am the author and this is not a review but a necessary correction of the info that was given about the book, which said I had been a member of Museveni's army and was dead! Actually the book is an excellent survey of low cost appproaches to soil and water conservation and reforestation in Africa. The book won a United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 award in 1988.
I had nothing to do with Museveni's rebellion, and I am alive and well.