Wind erosion: The perspective of grass-roots communities in the Sahel

Under the harsh conditions prevailing in the West African Sahel, farmers mu st deal with a range of environmental and socio-economic issues that constr ain agriculture. Although scientific evidence indicates that wind erosion i s potentially a major land degradation process, little is known about the S ahelian farmer's perception of the relative importance of wind erosion as a constraint to agricultural production. A village-level survey was therefor e undertaken to assess farmers' views about the relative importance of perc eived constraints to agricultural production in 41 villages across Niger. D uring the interviews, the communities' views were also recorded regarding t he causes and consequences of wind erosion as well as known wind erosion co ntrol measures. Wind erosion ranked eighth overall and was listed by male f armers among the top 10 constraints in 54 per cent of the villages. it was perceived by male farmers to be a moderate to high constraint in 39 per cen t of the villages but was not considered important by female farmers. Wind erosion ranked third among environmental constraints, behind drought and so il fertility. Wind erosion related health problems were generally of more c oncern than crop damage or loss of topsoil by wind erosion. Deforestation, removal of crop residue and land-clearing practices were identified by farm ers as major contributors to soil losses by wind. To address this issue, at least 10 different low-cost technologies are currently being implemented b y farmers, including leaving crop residue in the field, mulching and natura l regeneration of vegetation. The survey results indicate that farmers are well aware of the overriding importance of their management practices, as o pposed to climatic factors, on the current extent of wind erosion. Copyrigh t (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.