SUSTAINING THE SOIL
Indigenous Soil and WaterConservation in Africa
Edited by Chris Reij, Ian Scoonesand Camilla Toulmin
EARTHSCANEarthscan Publications Ltd, London
CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Acknowledgements . xi
1. Sustaining the soil: indigenous soil and water conservationin Africa 1Ian Scoones, Chris Reij and Camilla Toulmin
2. Making the most of local knowledge: water harvesting in theRed Sea Hills of Northern Sudan 28Mohamed Osman El Sammani andSayed Mohamed Ahmed Dabloub
3. Drought and the need to change: the expansion of waterharvesting in Central Darfur, Sudan 35Yagoub Abdalla Mohamed
4. The mastery of water: SWC practices in the Atlas Mountainsof Morocco 44M Ait Hamza
5. Mountains, foothills and plains: investing in SWC in Morocco ' 48Miloud Choker with H El Abbassi and A Laouina
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6. Improved traditional planting pits in the Tahoua Department(Niger): an example of rapid adoption by farmers 56Abdou Hassan
7. Rehabilitating degraded land: za'i in the Djenne Circle of Mali 62Joanne Wedum, Yaya Doumbia, Boubacar Sanogo,Gouro Dicko and Oussoumana Cisse
8. A measure for every site: traditional SWC techniques on theDogon Plateau, Mali 69Armand Kassogue, Mamadou Momota, Justin Sagara andFerdinand Schutgens
9. The za'i: a traditional technique for the rehabilitation of degradedland in the Yatenga, Burkina Faso 80Matthieu Ouedraogo and Vincent Kabore
10. Mulching on the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso: widespreadand well adapted to farmers' means 85Maja Slingerland and Mouga Masdewel
11. Firki-masakwa cultivation in Borno, north-east Nigeria 90Are Kolawole, J K Adewumi and P E Odo
12. Indigenous SWC in Southern Zimbabwe: a study of techniques,historical changes and recent developments under participatoryresearch and extension 97/ Hagmann and K Murwirwa
13. Environmental change and livelihood responses: shiftingagricultural practices in the lakes depression zone ofNorthern Zambia 107Patrick M Sikana and Timothy N Mwambazi
14. 'Grandfather's way of doing': gender relations and the yaba-itgosystem in Upper East Region, Ghana 117David Millar with Roy Ayariga and Ben Anamoh
15. How rice cultivation became an 'indigenous' farming practice inMaswa district, Tanzania 126/ M Shaka, J A Ngailo and J M Wickama
16. Making the most of compost: a look at wafipa moundsin Tanzania 134A C Mbegu
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17. Cultivating the valleys: vinyungu farming in Tanzania 139Anderson J Lema
18. Pit cultivation in the Matengo Highlands of Tanzania 145AEM Temu and S Bisanda
19. 'Back to the grass strips': a history of soil conservation policiesin Swaziland 151M Osunade and C Reij
20. The 'flexibility' of indigenous SWC techniques: a case studyof the Harerge Highlands, Ethiopia 156Kebede Asrat, Kederalah Idris and Mesfin Semegn
21. Traditional ditches in Northern Shewa, the Ethiopian Highlands 163Million Alemayehu
22. Creating an inventory of indigenous SWC measures in Ethiopia 170Hans-Joachim Kriiger, Berhanu Fantaw, Yohannes G Michaeland Kefeni Kajela
23. Local farming in the former Transkei, South Africa 181Kevin Phillips-Howard and Chris Oche -
24. Traditional SWC techniques in the Mandara Mountains,Northern Cameroon 191Francois Hiol Hiol, Dieudonne Ndoum Mbeyo andFrancois Tchala Abina
25. New perspectives on local conservation techniques: a case studyfrom Malawi 202Julius H Mangisoni and G S Phiri
26. The rapid evolution of small-basin irrigation on the Jos Plateau,Nigeria 213Kevin Phillips-Howard
27. A SWC system under threat: a visit to Maku, Nigeria 219£ M Igbokwe
28. Evolution of traditional techniques of soil conservation in theBamileke region, West Cameroon 228Paul Tchawa
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CONTENTS
Bibliography 235
Acronyms and abbreviations 244
List of authors 245
Index 248
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