| dc.description.abstract | Farmland of relatively marginal Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture
(LEISA) farmers in developing countries is prone to degradation from various local
environmental and management causes. In the Traditional Techniques of Microclimate
Improvement (TTMI) project in Africa, several such causes were (proposed to be)
counteracted with relatively simple means available or made available to such farmers.
Examples of causes and answers illustrated in this paper have to do with degradation
of often marginal soils caused by migration (central Kenya), by low soil cover,
low nutrient status and low water holding capacity in intercropping (northern Nigeria),
by wind erosion and desertification threatening irrigated land and its protection
(central Sudan), by water-caused soil erosion and runoff on sloping land (eastern
Kenya) and by deforestation and heat advection negatively affecting soil moisture
and crops (Sahelian Nigeria). Each of the above examples of farmland degradation
is closed by summarizing what we learned as answers. In these answers, small
to medium scale agrometeorological and agroclimatological management, in many
cases including the agroforestry use of non-forest trees for protection purposes,
play an important role. It is concluded that in LEISA, contemporary science improving
traditional approaches and supporting local innovations, should be assisted by appropriate
policy environments to produce relevant services for farmers in sufficient numbers
and on a sufficient scale. In this context it should always be local windows of
opportunity for LEISA farmers that have to be researched in a participatory approach
to combat land degradation. | |
