During the 1972–1978 window, African drylands research coalesced around climate-vegetation interactions and desertification as central drivers of aridity. Studies emphasized how land-surface changes and albedo feedbacks could modulate rainfall, producing self-reinforcing drought loops, while regional investigations linked climate processes to ecosystem dynamics and pastoral livelihoods. Methodologically, the period combined observational analyses, process-based reasoning, and early climate-model insights to unify climate and land-surface dynamics with socio-economic vulnerability.