TY - JOUR

T1 - Soil erosion in the West African Sahel

T2 - A review and an application of a "local political ecology" approach in South West Niger

AU - Warren, Andrew

AU - Batterbury, Simon

AU - Osbahr, Henny

PY - 2001/4/1

Y1 - 2001/4/1

N2 - A review of soil erosion research in the West African Sahel finds that there are insufficient data on which to base policy. This is largely because of the difficulties of measuring erosion and the other components of "soil life", and because of the highly spatially and temporarily variable natural and social environment of the Sahel. However, a "local political ecology" of soil erosion and new methodologies offer some hope of overcoming these problems. Nonetheless, a major knowledge gap will remain, about how rates of erosion are accommodated and appraised within very variable social and economic conditions. An example from recent field work in Niger shows that erosion is correlated with factors such as male migration, suggesting, in this case, that households with access to non-farm income adopt a risk-avoidance strategy in which soil erosion is accelerated incidentally. It is concluded that there needs to be more research into the relations between erosion and socio-economic factors, and clearer thinking about the meaning of sustainability as it refers to soil erosion in the Sahel.

AB - A review of soil erosion research in the West African Sahel finds that there are insufficient data on which to base policy. This is largely because of the difficulties of measuring erosion and the other components of "soil life", and because of the highly spatially and temporarily variable natural and social environment of the Sahel. However, a "local political ecology" of soil erosion and new methodologies offer some hope of overcoming these problems. Nonetheless, a major knowledge gap will remain, about how rates of erosion are accommodated and appraised within very variable social and economic conditions. An example from recent field work in Niger shows that erosion is correlated with factors such as male migration, suggesting, in this case, that households with access to non-farm income adopt a risk-avoidance strategy in which soil erosion is accelerated incidentally. It is concluded that there needs to be more research into the relations between erosion and socio-economic factors, and clearer thinking about the meaning of sustainability as it refers to soil erosion in the Sahel.

KW - Agriculture

KW - Local political ecology

KW - Niger

KW - Sahel

KW - Soil erosion

U2 - 10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00047-9

DO - 10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00047-9

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:0035108822

VL - 11

SP - 79

EP - 95

JO - Global Environmental Change

JF - Global Environmental Change

SN - 0959-3780

IS - 1

ER -