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

A review of soil erosion research in the West African Sahel finds that ther e are insufficient data on which to base policy. This is largely because of the difficulties of measuring erosion and the other components of "soil li fe", and because of the highly spatially and temporarily variable natural a nd social environment of the Sahel. However, a "local political ecology" of soil erosion and new methodologies offer some hope of overcoming these pro blems. Nonetheless, a major knowledge gap will remain, about how rates of e rosion are accommodated and appraised within very variable social and econo mic conditions. An example from recent field work in Niger shows that erosi on is correlated with factors such as male migration, suggesting, in this c ase, 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 an d socio-economic factors, and clearer thinking about the meaning of sustain ability as it refers to soil erosion in the Sahel. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.