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The way forward

FUTURE PROGRAMMES TO TACKLE LAND DEGRADATION MUST FIND OUT WHY LAND IS BEING MISUSED AND HOW TO MOTIVATE LAND USERS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

Experience in Africa has proved that large-scale, top-down, government-run programmes to treat land degradation are seldom effective. They are also so expensive that probably no African country could now afford a programme of this type sufficiently large to tackle its land degradation problems.

Fortunately, alternatives now exist. Many depend essentially on promoting land-use systems that retain a permanent vegetative cover over the land surface. This protects the soil from wind and water erosion, increases soil fertility, improves the organic content and maximizes water penetration. Crops, grasses or trees grown under such systems inevitably benefit - as do the users of the land who find productivity and profits once again on the increase.

This point is critical because, ultimately, how a country's land is managed and used depends upon the perceptions and actions of its many thousands of individual farmers, pastoralists, foresters and other land users. These people have the ability to bring about fundamental changes in land use. The challenge is to create the conditions that will provide this motivation.

A new approach is needed - one that will ensure the large-scale participation of rural people in conservation because of the benefits it can bring. Governments will still need to take overall responsibility for conservation, but their main role will be to promote the participation of rural people in finding and applying the solutions.

Identifying the causes of land degradation

The first steps are to identify and remove those factors that are responsible for detrimental land use.

Degradation results primarily from incorrect land use and bad land management - from the land being used in a manner incompatible with its capacity. Farmers and other land users rarely deliberately degrade the land from which they have to make a living and feed their families. Incorrect use and bad management of the land are usually the result of ignorance or, more likely, economic, social and political pressures.

The first step is therefore to analyse why undesirable land uses are being practiced. There may be many answers - population pressures may be high, agricultural pricing policies inappropriate, inputs unavailable or land tenure systems may be forcing farmers to over-exploit land. Without an analysis of the underlying causes of land degradation much time, effort and money may be spent in dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause of the problem.

The analysis may lead to the conclusion that the problem cannot be overcome until some major constraint affecting land users is dealt with. This may mean providing outlets for alternative crops, providing some needed farm input or adjusting the land tenure system - subjects rarely considered in the conservation programmes of the past.

For example, an analysis of a badly eroded area may lead to the conclusion that the underlying problem is excessive population pressure on the land. In these circumstances the land is being used beyond its potential capacity, and any programme based only on the introduction of orthodox land conservation practices - no matter how cleverly designed and carefully installed - can have no real hope of success. All these measures can do is slow down the processes of degradation and give those dependent on the land a little more time before they are driven away by falling productivity.

Lasting solutions may involve easing the pressure on the land by relocating some of the farmers or developing alternative sources of livelihood. Even if such solutions are not immediately possible, a sound understanding of the underlying causes of land degradation can prevent governments embarking on costly but unsuccessful programmes.

Involving the farmer

Farmers have to deal with a succession of problems while they strive to earn reasonable incomes, feed and clothe their families, pay off their debts and educate their children. They have neither the time nor the inclination to adopt new and risky practices to tackle processes of land degradation that, on their time scale, are so slow as to be barely discernible.

New conservation programmes must recognize this fact and develop practices that provide short-term, tangible benefits to the farmer. In practice this means increasing yields, reducing risks or providing other direct benefits such as making farm work easier.

There are already successful examples of this approach. In Kenya, "Fanya Juu" terraces have been introduced on cultivated land in some of the lower rainfall areas of the country. This terracing is leading to substantially higher yields of maize and beans. The farmers are adopting this form of terracing enthusiastically and provide all the necessary labour for construction and maintenance. However, the terraces are also effectively controlling run-off and soil erosion. They are therefore meeting the requirements of the nation's conservation programme. The government's contribution consists of technical advice, surveying and laying out the terraces, and providing hand tools and some help in organizing the farmers.

Numerous alternatives can be developed to achieve the twin objectives of providing programmes attractive to farmers while, at the same time, preventing degradation. For example, conservation programmes can concentrate on practices that will improve soil fertility such as returning removed nutrients, increasing organic matter content, preventing the formation of hard pans, reducing soil sealing and improving soil structure. Any practice that can achieve any of these aims will automatically reduce degradation and at the same time increase yields.

With water the limiting factor to agriculture in much of Africa, greater attention must also be placed on the conservation of soil moisture. A number of techniques are already known, and others need to be developed that will help conserve moisture and reduce run-off, thereby automatically reducing degradation.

With this as background, the remainder of this publication is concerned with the specific issues of developing national and regional programmes to tackle land degradation in Africa, and of finding the finance they need.

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