This emergency response plan represents cumulative steps taken since September 2018 to protect and restore agricultural production, incomes and assets, while enhancing nutritious and diversified diets of the most vulnerable farming and agropastoral households affected by the drought conditions and other compounding shocks in the countries at highest risk. Aligned to the FAO 2018–2021 Resilience Strategy for Southern Africa, and informed by the relevant recommendations from the SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Programme Meetings, the overarching aim of the plan is to contribute to resilient agriculture-based livelihoods that enhance food security and nutrition in the face of more frequent and intense weather extremes.

In 2020, the African Human Rights Law Journal (AHRLJ or Journal) celebrates 20 years since it first was published. The AHRLJ is the only peer-reviewed journal focused on human rights-related topics of relevance to Africa, Africans and scholars of Africa. It is a time for celebration. Since 2001, two issues of the AHRLJ have appeared every year. Initially published by Juta, in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2013 it became as an open-access journal published by the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP). PULP is a non-profit open-access publisher focused on advancing African scholarship. The AHRLJ contains peer-reviewed articles and ‘recent developments’, discussing the latest court decisions and legal developments in the African Union (AU) and regional economic communities. It contains brief discussions of recently-published books. With a total of 517 contributions in 40 issues (436 articles and 81 ‘recent developments’; not counting ‘book reviews’), on average the AHRLJ contains around 13 contributions per issue. The AHRLJ is accredited with the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) and the South African Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and appears in a number of open access portals, including AfricanLii, the Directory of Open Access Journals and SciELO. Over the 20 years of its existence, many significant articles appeared in the AHRLJ. According to Google Scholar the mostcited articles that have appeared in the Journal over this period are (i) T Metz ‘Ubuntu as a moral theory and human rights in South Africa’ (2011) 11 African Human Rights Law Journal 532-559 (with 273 citations); (ii) D Cornell and K van Marle ‘Exploring ubuntu: Tentative reflections’ (2005) 5 African Human Rights Law Journal 195- 220 (with 97 citations); (iii) S Tamale ‘Exploring the contours of African sexualities: Religion, law and power’ (2014) 14 African Human Rights Law Journal 150-177 (with 85 citations); K Kindiki ‘The normative and institutional framework of the African Union relating to the protection of human rights and the maintenance of international peace and security: A critical appraisal’ (2003) 3 African Human Rights Law Journal 97-117 (with 59 citations); and T Kaime ‘The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the cultural legitimacy of children’s rights in Africa: Some reflections’ (2005) 5 African Human Rights Law Journal 221-238) (with 54 citations). This occasion allows some perspective on the role that the Journal has played over the past 20 years. It is fair to say that the AHRLJ contributed towards strengthening indigenous African scholarship, in general, and human rights-related themes, specifically. Before the Journal there was no academic ‘outlet’ devoted to human rights in the broader African context. Both in quantity and in quality the Journal has left its mark on the landscape of scholarly journals. The AHRLJ has provided a forum for African voices, including those that needed to be ‘fine-tuned’. Different from many other peerreviewed journals, the AHRLJ has seen it as its responsibility to nurture emerging but not yet fully-flourishing talent. This approach allowed younger and emerging scholars to be guided to sharpen their skills and find their scholarly voices. The AHRLJ has evolved in tandem with the African regional human rights system, in a dialogic relationship characterised by constructive criticism. When the Journal was first published in 2001, the Protocol on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court Protocol) was not yet in force. Over the years the Journal tracked the evolution of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) from a faltering start, through a phase when it increasingly expressed itself in an emerging jurisprudence, to the current situation of push-back by states signalled by the withdrawal by four states of their acceptance of the Court’s direct individual access jurisdiction. The same is largely true for the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Committee). It was in 2001 that the AU elected the first members of this Committee. It first met in 2002, and its first decade or so was lackluster. The Committee examined its first state report only in November 2008, and decided its first communication in March 2011. Articles by authors such as Mezmur and Sloth-Nielsen, who also served as members of the Committee, and Lloyd, placed the spotlight on the work of the Committee. Initially, these articles primarily served to describe and provide information that otherwise was largely inaccessible, but over time they increasingly provided a critical gaze and contributed to the constructive evolution of the Committee’s exercise of its mandate. By 2011 the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) was already quite well established, but it also underwent significant growth over the subsequent 20-year period. Numerous articles in the Journal trace and analyse aspects of this evolution. Contributions in the Journal also cover most of the AU human rights treaties and soft law standards. A number of issues contain a ‘special focus’ section dealing with a thematic issue of particular relevance or concern, such as the focus on the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women (2006 no 1); ‘30 years of the African Charter’ (2011 no 2); and ‘sexual and reproductive rights and the African Women’s Protocol’ (2014 no 2). The scope of the Journal extends beyond the supranational dimension of human rights. Over the years many contributions explored aspects of the domestic human rights situation in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. From time to time the specific focus sections also veered towards domestic human rights protection. See for instance the focus on 20 years of the South African Constitution (2014 no 2); on ‘adolescent sexual and reproductive rights in the African region’ (2017 no 2); on ‘the rule of law in sub-Saharan Africa’ (2018 no 1); and on ‘dignity taking and dignity restorations’ (2018 no 2).

The low-carbon transition is ongoing everywhere. This Handbook, written by a group of senior and junior scholars from six continents and nineteen countries, explores the legal pathways of decarbonisation in the energy sector. What emerges is a composite picture. There are many roadblocks, but also a lot of legal innovation. The volume distils the legal knowledge which should help move forward the transition. Questions addressed include the differences between the decarbonization strategies of developed and developing countries, the pace of the transition, the management of multi-level governance systems, the pros and cons of different policy instruments, the planning of low-carbon infrastructures, the roles and meanings of energy justice. The Handbook can be drawn upon by legal scholars to compare decarbonisation pathways in several jurisdictions. Non-legal scholars can find information to be included in transition theories and decarbonization scenarios. Policymakers can discover contextual factors that should be taken into account when deciding how to support the transition.

Tropical cyclones in Southern Africa, also known as hurricanes or typhoons in other regions of the world, is a hot subject for academic research. This focus has been magnified by the need to consider tropical cyclones in the context of other global development agendas, that includes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its inseparable 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda. The ambitious SDGs challenge global and community leaders to make sure development addresses the nexus among poverty, inequality and employment creation, as well as care for the earth and its natural resources and biodiversity. The SDGs further present an agenda to eradicate hunger, bring quality education and sustain water and sanitation. The infrastructure development, human settlements, sustainable consumption and production, climate change, biodiversity and the ocean (blue) economy agendas are also pitched. Lastly, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encourages partnerships on delivering various programmes and projects at all spatial levels. However, as tropical cyclones continue to make multiple landfalls and ravage Southern Africa and other parts of the world, the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is threatened. To this end, this book addresses this gap by documenting the implications of tropical cyclones, drawing examples and case studies from recent tropical cyclones such as cyclone Idai and cyclone Kenneth that resulted in catastrophic impacts in 2019. The book comes as part of a series with three volumes. The other volumes include “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol. 1: Interfacing the Catastrophic Impact of Cyclone Idai with SDGs in Zimbabwe” and “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 2: Foundational and Fundamental Topics”. Given the foregoing, the book is suitable as a read for several professionals and disciplines such as tourism and hospitality studies, economics, sustainable development, development studies, environmental sciences, arts, geography, life sciences, politics, planning and public health.

Shaping National Security: International Emergency Mechanisms and Disaster Risk Reduction presents international emergency mechanisms relative to disaster risk reduction (DRR). The goal is to share knowledge about existing frameworks, and utilize established DRR policies and programs, as another means to reinforce and strengthen national security in countries around the world. The book outlines, in detail, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) DRR programs. While these entities’ versions of DRR best practices are largely directed at decreasing the impact of disaster hazards, limiting relevant exposure, local vulnerabilities, increasing capacities to cope with disaster, the authors present these frameworks as potential tools, and effective means, to support national security efforts. This is especially important in disaster circumstances when local, and national emergency resources, may be insufficient to face hazards and multi-hazards, and result in cascading effects to occur as hazard events transpire. Chapters present various resources available to them, through these programs, to encourage authorities from every country to effectively apply the mechanisms—and emergency mechanisms specifically—to offer domestic solutions. Due to these programs proven track records in providing organisational standards, the use of such mechanisms can serve as both the basis to foster sound DRR practices and, by extension, can supplement resiliency, security, and continuity within countries. This concept is based on the premise that the UNDAC, INSARAG, NATO and ECPM emergency mechanisms have been developed to be implementable (directly or indirectly) in every country in the world when disasters occur. Shaping National Security takes a "big-picture," holistic view of DRR and national security to offer innovative ideas and solutions to professionals and officials working in disaster management, disaster risk reduction, emergency management, crisis management, civil protection, public security management, national security, criminal justice, international studies, and homeland security.

Using climate justice as an analytical tool, this volume examines the role of local mitigation and adaptation actions in Southern African in furthering climate resilient development. Climate Action in Southern Africa examines the intrinsic connection between local climate actions, climate resilient development and strides towards a just transition. The theoretical grounding in climate justice allows the authors to analyze whether current climate actions in Africa are truly effective for the poor and marginalized whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by a climate crisis largely not of their making. The authors also question the extent to which pathways to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 are achievable in Africa and ask whether this can be attained without undermining livelihoods and human development. Overall, the book argues that for any transition to be a just transition it has to be aligned with the pursuit of sustainable development and climate justice for current and future generations on the African continent. Drawing out key factors including politics, gender and migration, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, climate justice and African development.

This review provides an overview of the status, trends, challenges and projections for aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and evaluates the major trends during previous five years. While the sector still faces various internal and external challenges, the inherent natural potential of the region and rapidly increasing demand for fish has resulted in increased prioritization of aquaculture in almost all SSA countries and the African Union and subsidiary bodies have given special attention to the sector development. In order to realize its full potential, the SSA region needs to address a combination of overarching factors limiting aquaculture development so far, such as ineffective development approaches, weak governance frameworks, underdeveloped value chains and low availability as well as the high cost of key production inputs. Strengthened value chains for tilapia and catfish, promotion of new species, improved biosecurity, continued development of certification and associated harmonized best practices, improved information systems and innovations to address climate-change related impacts are some of the matters to be addressed. Financial institutions and private sector (national and international) have equally started investing, even though in the global picture such interventions may seem negligible, which makes the continent to call for more and higher levels technical and financial assistance from international partners. Upscale the status of production and productivity via healthy investments would help the sector to generate a variety of benefits including food security, livelihoods, employment, domestic and intra-regional markets, foreign currency income and other socio-economic benefits.