Browsing by Author "Stahr K."

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    Farmers' Adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies: A Case Study from Osun State, Nigeria
    (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2009) Junge B; Deji O; Abaidoo R. C; Chikoye D; Stahr K.
    The main objective of this study was to determine the attitude of farmers towards erosion and the adoption of appropriate soil conservation technologies (SCTs). For the survey, farmers were selected from the communities Esa Oke, Elwure and Owode-Ede and Akoda in Osun State in Nigeria. In the first three communities farmers did receive training on soil conservation in the fourth not. About 60 farmers were interviewed to obtain information on personal and socio economic characteristics, awareness of environmental problems, attitude towards erosion control and experiences with SCTs. Statistical data analyses (analyses of frequencies, correlation, t-test, x2-test) were made to examine possible relationships among parameters and the influence of factors on adoption. Most respondents were advanced in years, responsible for large households and characterized by low levels of income and literacy. Soil erosion was seen as a problem confronting agriculturalproduction only to a small extent. The adoption rate of SCTs was low, as only mulching, cover cropping, contour tillage and cut-off drainage were practised and often rejected. Low labour demand, the availability of common equipment, low costs of application, ease of practice andcompatibility with the existing farming system influenced adoption.The observed positive correlation between level of education, knowledge of appropriatetechnologies, farming experience and the number of SCTs adopted emphasizes the importance for farmers of education and training. Strengthening agricultural extension agencies for capacity building is an important tool for improving soil conservation in Nigeria. The paper clarifies with specific examples the causes of the low rates of adoption of available technologies, with a reduced impact of research and of efforts to achieve food security andsustainable production at village level
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    First use of the 137Cs technique in Nigeria for estimating medium-term soil redistribution rates on cultivated farmland
    (Elseviere, 2010) Junge B.; Mabit L.; Dercon G.; Walling D.E.; Abaidoo R. C; Chikoye D.; Stahr K.
    Soil erosion is a serious problem in the forest-savanna transition zone or derived savanna of West Africa and Nigeria and needs to be reduced to maintain soil quality and to ensure food security. In 2007, the use of the fallout radionuclide 137Cs as a tracer for estimating the magnitude of medium-term (40–50 years) rates of soil redistribution was tested at a research station in Ibadan, Nigeria, to investigate, for the first time, its applicability in the derived savanna of West Africa. Because of the traditional tillage practice for cassava cultivation of creating downslope oriented ridges and furrows during the annual ploughing, there was a need to adapt the 137Cs approach to these specific condition. The mean inventory was determined for cores collected from both ridges and furrows at different positions down the slope and this value was used to estimate the downslope variation in the longer term soil redistribution rate. The mean 137Cs reference inventory obtained for an undisturbed site was 568 138 Bq m 2 . The average inventory for the upper slope of the cassava field (423 323 Bq m 2 ) was generally lower than the average inventory for the middle slope (509 166 Bq m 2 ) and for the lower slope (606 245 Bq m 2 ) and these results provided clear evidence of the downslope movement of soil. The mean 137Cs inventory for the study area within the cassava field (496 273 Bq m 2 ) was 13% lower than the reference inventory, indicating that some of the soil mobilised and redistributed by erosion had been exported beyond the field. Using 137Cs data set and the conversion model mass balance model 2 (MBM2), the gross erosion rate from the cultivated site was estimated to be 18.3 t ha 1 year 1 and the net erosion rate 14.4 t ha 1 year 1 , providing a sediment delivery ratio of 78%. These estimates are comparable to the rates generated by conventional soil loss measurements made close to the study site. The study demonstrates that the 137Cs technique can be successfully used to obtain data on medium-term soil redistribution in the derived savanna of Nigeria, and that it could be a useful tool for supporting the improvement of soil conservation on farmland in West Africa