Soil erosion in the West African Sahel: A review and an application of a "local political ecology" approach in South West Niger

Abstract

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 fac..