Abstract Sugarcane is often portrayed as one of the most environmentally sustainable food and energy crops, yet evidence of the crop's social and environmental impacts in Africa's growing sugarcane industry remains scarce. The land cover replaced by cane and subsequent land use practices play important roles in shaping the environmental impacts of expansion. Land cover change can be both direct and indirect and land ownership is key in shaping socioeconomic impacts, yet these have not been systematically documented in an area experiencing cane expansion in Africa. This paper addresses these gaps through an analysis of land use changes and hydrological impacts associated with the 2006 to 2012 expansion of Zambia Sugar in Mazabuka, Zambia. Methods included semi-structured interviews with Zambia Sugar and outgrowers, remote sensing of land cover to quantify the types of land conversion, and hydrological analysis of impacts on regional crop water use and the Kafue River. The bulk of the expansion area as reported by Zambia Sugar (62%) converted low-water using shrublands to sugarcane, increasing total consumptive use of irrigation water by cane in Mazabuka to 13-16% of the 25% probability monthly mean low flow in the Kafue River. Commercial-scale growers represented 94% of the expansion area, calling into question claims about smallholder inclusion.

中文翻译：

---

甘蔗扩张的环境影响：南部非洲土地和水资源利用变化的案例研究

摘要 甘蔗通常被描述为环境最可持续的粮食和能源作物之一，但该作物对非洲日益增长的甘蔗产业的社会和环境影响的证据仍然很少。被甘蔗取代的土地覆盖和随后的土地利用实践在塑造扩张对环境的影响方面发挥着重要作用。土地覆盖变化可以是直接的，也可以是间接的，土地所有权是塑造社会经济影响的关键，但在非洲经历甘蔗扩张的地区，这些变化尚未得到系统记录。本文通过分析与 2006 年至 2012 年赞比亚马扎布卡的赞比亚糖业扩张相关的土地利用变化和水文影响来解决这些差距。方法包括对赞比亚糖业和外包生产商的半结构化访谈，土地覆盖遥感以量化土地转换的类型，以及对区域作物用水和卡富埃河影响的水文分析。赞比亚糖业报告的大部分扩展区 (62%) 将使用灌木地的低水位转化为甘蔗，将 Mazabuka 的甘蔗灌溉用水的总消耗量增加到 25% 的概率月平均低流量的 13-16%卡富埃河。商业规模的种植者占扩张区域的 94%，这对小农包容性的说法提出了质疑。将 Mazabuka 的甘蔗灌溉用水的总消耗量增加到 Kafue 河每月平均低流量 25% 概率的 13-16%。商业规模的种植者占扩张区域的 94%，这对小农包容性的说法提出了质疑。将 Mazabuka 的甘蔗灌溉用水的总消耗量增加到 Kafue 河每月平均低流量 25% 概率的 13-16%。商业规模的种植者占扩张区域的 94%，这对小农包容性的说法提出了质疑。