Understanding what drives land use systems and how humans and the environment interact is crucial for achieving sustainable development. Geography as an academic discipline plays an important role in sustainability research as it focuses on the study of human-environment interactions and is connected to the economic and social dimensions of sustainability. Sustainable land use systems (SLUS), such as agroforestry cocoa, implemented using organic fertilization, prescribed post-harvest practices and rainwater irrigation, can potentially increase farm productivity, while reducing pressure on natural resources by decreasing deforestation and providing legitimate incomes for rural households. SLUS emerge as a viable approach to mitigate climate change by decreasing

deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions while concurrently enhancing farm productivity and/or revenues. The sustainability of land use systems is contingent upon various factors, such as the use of organic fertilization, rainwater reservoirs, and post-harvest processing techniques. It is argued that SLUS have the potential to sequester carbon into the soil since it comes from an agroforestry system, reduce pressure on forests and provide social co-benefits such as peacebuilding by improving livelihoods, reducing conflict over natural resources and encouraging greater cooperation.

Enhancing measures of sustainability in land use systems is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, sustainable development depends on peace, making it a fundamental role in achieving sustainability.

Secondly, current sustainability accounting tools have limited incorporation of climate change mitigation, which is necessary for addressing sustainability challenges. Thirdly, there is a lack of studies that apply sustainability measures to assess land systems in conflict-affected regions vulnerable to deforestation. Fourthly, sustainable land-use systems need to integrate peacebuilding directly. Lastly, while climate change mitigation is essential for sustainability, it is not yet fully understood or integrated into sustainability measures.

The goal of this thesis is to explore how sustainable land use systems (SLUS) can promote sustainable development by contributing to climate change mitigation and peacebuilding. Specifically, this thesis aims to develop tools for evaluating the contributions of SLUS to sustainable development and to advance the theoretical framework for assessing progress toward sustainability by incorporating peacebuilding and climate change mitigation. The thesis seeks to enhance measures of sustainability in land use systems to achieve sustainable development goals related to environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation, and peacebuilding.