Author: Jürgen HagmannPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 36
Book Description
Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation in Southern Zimbabwe
Author: Jürgen HagmannPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 36
Book Description
Sustaining the Soil
Author: Chris ReijPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134175930
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 348
Book Description
Indigenous soil and water conservation practices are rarely acknowledged in the design of conventional development projects. Instead, the history of soil and water conservation in Africa has been one of imposing external solutions without regard for local practice. There is a remarkably diverse range of locally developed and adapted technologies for the conservation of water and soil, well suited to their particular site and socio-economic conditions. But such measures have been ignored, and sometimes even overturned, by external solutions. Sustaining the Soil documents farmers' practices, exploring the origins and adaptations carried out by farmers over generations, in response to changing circumstances. Through a comparative analysis of conservation measures - from the humid zones of West Africa to the arid lands of the Sudan, from rock terraces in Morocco to the grass strips of Swaziland - the book explores the various factors that influence adoption and adaptation; farmers' perceptions of conservation needs; and the institutional and policy settings most favorable to more effective land husbandry. For the first time on an Africa-wide scale, this book shows that indigenous techniques work, and are being used successfully to conserve and harvest soil and water. These insights combine to suggest new ways forward for governments and agencies attempting to support sustainable land management in Africa, involving a fusion of traditional and modern approaches, which makes the most of both the new and the old.
Sustaining the Soil
Author: Ian ScoonesPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 25
Book Description
A Short History and Annotated Bibliography on Soil and Water Conservation in Zimbabwe
Author: Sustaining the Soil
Author: Chris ReijPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134175868
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
Indigenous soil and water conservation practices are rarely acknowledged in the design of conventional development projects. Instead, the history of soil and water conservation in Africa has been one of imposing external solutions without regard for local practice. There is a remarkably diverse range of locally developed and adapted technologies for the conservation of water and soil, well suited to their particular site and socio-economic conditions. But such measures have been ignored, and sometimes even overturned, by external solutions. Sustaining the Soil documents farmers' practices, exploring the origins and adaptations carried out by farmers over generations, in response to changing circumstances. Through a comparative analysis of conservation measures - from the humid zones of West Africa to the arid lands of the Sudan, from rock terraces in Morocco to the grass strips of Swaziland - the book explores the various factors that influence adoption and adaptation; farmers' perceptions of conservation needs; and the institutional and policy settings most favorable to more effective land husbandry. For the first time on an Africa-wide scale, this book shows that indigenous techniques work, and are being used successfully to conserve and harvest soil and water. These insights combine to suggest new ways forward for governments and agencies attempting to support sustainable land management in Africa, involving a fusion of traditional and modern approaches, which makes the most of both the new and the old.
Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation
Author: W. R. S. CritchleyAnalysis of Soil and Water Conservation Techniques in Zimbabwe
Author: Lorraine Nyaradzo DzudaPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Soil conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
Rainwater-Smart Agriculture in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas
Author: Walter Leal FilhoPublisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319662392
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
This book introduces state-of-the-art approaches, methods and research, focusing on smart management of rainwater. In addition, it provides an overview of projects from across the world, illustrating how rainwater-smart management has been implemented in drylands. Focusing on the scientific perspective it demonstrates how rural dryland agriculture can be improved. It also documents the wealth of rainwater-smart know-how available today, and replicates and transfers results to other countries and regions, to encourage cross-sector interactions among various stakeholders, such as practitioners from governmental and public organisations, policy- and decision-makers, and teaching staff from academic scientific institutions. The contributors showcase vital lessons learned from research, field projects and best-practice examples. They address the integrated use of rainwater harvesting management with landscape restoration practices and water-, and climate-smart agriculture for food security and poverty alleviation in arid and semi-arid areas. Original research, combined with the contributors’ synthetic approach, lays a foundation for new concepts and ideas. Through case studies and research reports, the book discusses all the relevant issues necessary for the comprehensive analysis and successful implementation of the technologies in rainwater management. Highlighting the working principles and technical recommendations with regard to cost-efficient rainwater-smart solutions, it is of interest to practitioners. It is also a valuable resource for academic specialists, professionals and students, since many development agencies are funding rainwater harvesting for irrigation purposes.
Water Harvesting in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: William CritchleyPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136273050
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is constrained by highly variable rainfall, frequent drought and low water productivity. There is an urgent need, heightened by climate change, for appropriate technologies to address this problem through managing and increasing the quantity of water on farmers’ fields – water harvesting. This book defines water harvesting as a set of approaches which occupy an intermediate position along the water-management spectrum extending from in situ moisture conservation to irrigated agriculture. They generally comprise small-scale systems that induce, collect, store and make use of local surface runoff for agriculture. The authors review development experience and set out the state of the art of water harvesting for crop production and other benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa. This includes an assessment of water harvesting schemes that were initiated two or three decades ago when interest was stimulated by the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s. These provide lessons to promote sustainable development of dryland agriculture in the face of changing environmental conditions. Case studies from eight countries across Sub-Saharan Africa provide the evidence base. Each follows a similar format and is based on assessments conducted in collaboration with in-country partners, with a focus on attempts to promote adoption of water harvesting, both horizontally (spread) and vertically (institutionalization). Introductory cross-cutting chapters as well as an analytical conclusion are also included.
Conservationism in Zimbabwe
Author: Vimbai Chaumba KwashiraiPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forest conservation
Languages : en
Pages : 166
Book Description
African forests provide the focus for a growing body of historical research in Zimbabwe. This book draws on economic and environmental history approaches in exploring the exploitation and conservation of woodland, respectively. The main focus of the investigation is the consumption-conservation relationship between humans and the forest zone. Customary forest practice in the Zambezi teak or Baikiea woodland points towards a better understanding on the subject, informed by a wide range of sources; oral tradition, missionary records, travel accounts and colonial documents. British imperial interest in Zimbabwe accelerated in the mid-1880s motivated and accelerated by speculative mineral discoveries thought to rival the Witwatersrand gold mines in South Africa. The British South Africa Company colonised Zimbabwe in 1890 expecting to finding rich gold deposits and when these hopes were dashed, white settlers turned their interest to other resources, land and forests. The rapidity with which the BSAC surveyed forest resources was testament to their expected commercial value. The mkusi and other commercial species motivated the government to gazette and establish eight state forest reserves in North-Western Matabeleland with a combined total of 1.6 million acres. In the company era, timber merchants exploited gusu with little or no control and their activities resulted in much deforestation. When European farmers and miners established commercial farms and mines in colonial Zimbabwe, the latter received preferential treatment in timber and energy requirements from the government because they contributed the bulk of state revenue. This policy was a source of protracted conflict between miners and farmers over forest exploitation. However, the state also sought to orient settler farmers towards the production of export crops: tobacco, maize and cotton. The two major pillars of the colonial economy, mining and agriculture, directly caused a fundamental transformation in soil and forest use, leading to deforestation and soil erosion. Soil erosion was a major risk that was faced along with the logistic and financial difficulties of pioneer farming. It however highlighted the negative impact of settler farming, particularly the perennial cultivation of the same crop on the same field, notably tobacco and maize. Land was used for short-term economic gain. What was missing was a willingness on the part of the settler society to deal effectively with the problems of deforestation and erosion, and the need for radical change in individual and collective attitudes towards natural resources.