Islands of intensive agriculture are areas of local cultivation surrounded by low-density livestock herders or extensive cultivators. Along the line of the East Africa Rift Valley, and in the highlands on either side, communities of considerable historical depth have developed highly specialized agricultural regimes, employing such labor-intensive devices as furrow irrigation, hillside terracing, and stall-feeding of cattle.

This collection continues the advance in the understanding of African agricultural practices through the combination of geographical, ethnographic, and archaeological research, concentrating on actual fields, farming strategies, and cultivation techniques.