Picture: Erosion in Ethiopia / photo: Lineair
Large-scale anti-erosion projects in Africa often fail because farmers don’t see the use of them. They are based on the insights of scientists who see soil degradation and erosion as the cause of low productivity, whereas farmers see drought as the cause.
This is what sociologist Dr. Monique Slegers claims in her thesis, which discusses her research into how farmers in two villages in Tanzania and Ethiopia look at drought, and how they deal with it. The farmers believe that rainfall has become more variable, and therefore less reliable, over recent years. This perception is only partially in line with Slegers' statistical analysis of rainfall measurements.
The change that farmers notice has indeed happened, but it is not big enough to be statistically significant. ‘But these are marginal areas’, says Slegers. ‘It’s quite possible that small changes do have noticeable consequences for the farmers.’
What is more, for the farmers, there is more to drought than a lack of rain. It is also important how drought-resistant the soil is, and how crops react. The farmers in Tanzania distinguish between dark, red and light soils, and they know the water retention capacity of the different soils. Slegers’ conclusion is that the ideas of scientists and farmers about the causes of low agricultural production are more compatible than has been assumed. Although farmers talk in terms of drought, they do take into consideration the state of the soil and the way the farmer treats it.
Slegers also asserts that past projects aiming to combat soil degradation were too large-scale. They focused on creating terraces, for instance, and this practice was at odds with the ideas and customs of the farmers themselves. For example, Slegers saw how Tanzanian farmers plant pumpkins or water melons between their maize. The large leaves of these plants help prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil. In Ethiopia, farmers use organic fertilizer which improves the water-retaining properties of the soil. ‘It is better for projects to work with such existing practices’, says Slegers. Joris Tielens
Monique Slegers received her PhD on 7th November. Her supervisor was Professor of Soil and Water Conservation, Leo Stroosnijder.
This article has been produced by the editors of Resource, the weekly news magazine of Wageningen University and Research Centre. More information can be obtained by the press department of Wageningen UR, e-mail: pers.communicatie@wur.nl or the editorial board of Resource, e-mail: resource@wur.nl. See also the archive on http://www.resource-online.nl