Biophysical and participatory research methods were combined to examine fac
tors contributing to soil erosion at field plot, village and regional scale
on the sandstone dominated Udi-Nsukka Cuesta in southeastern Nigeria. At f
ield plot scale, the properties of seven pedons were related to soil erodib
ility. Very high infiltration rates measured with a double ring infiltromet
er and permeameter, were not in accordance to reported runoff and soil loss
. The effect of groundcover and canopy height was incorporated into rainfal
l erosivity for plots under cashew, oil palm dominated forest and secondary
natural vegetation. Cropping systems and field management practices were c
ompared for different positions along a toposequence traversing the plateau
and escarpment of the Udi-Nsukka Cuesta. Soil loss, calculated by a modifi
ed version of the universal soil loss equation, was 10 to 100 times higher
on escarpment than on plateau plots. Farmers are adapting to the problems o
f interrill and rill erosion through careful crop selection and rotation, a
nd contour ridging. At the village and regional scale, terrain observations
were compared to archival research, historical accounts by villagers and g
eographic analysis of 1962 aerial photographs (1:40 000). Ravine and gully
formations seemed influenced by a combination of infrastructure, geohydrolo
gy, topography, vegetation and land use. Both community efforts and state m
easures to combat erosion tend to be crisis managed, and are concentrated o
n repairing damage to economically important infrastructures. A conceptual
diagram has been developed to show the complex interaction between various
geophysical, agroecological, socio-economic and political components influe
ncing soil erosion at farm, village and regional scale. Copyright (C) 1999
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.