Sahel …. Plus some title Credits: Bruno Gerard - ICRISAT Typical Sahelian village. Low resilience due to low soil fertility and insufficient land for fallow. [example text – not to be considered as content] The major constraints to agricultural production in the savanna include poor soil fertility (including low soil organic matter (SOM) content in intensified cropping systems), pests and diseases of crops and livestock, parasitic weeds such as Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth. (purple witchweed), drought, and competition between crops and livestock for resources. Inadequate policies, weak institutional mechanisms, and poor linkages among farmers, development agencies, and researchers prevent adoption of improved agricultural technologies that can combat these constraints. Most development organizations use traditional extension methods that result in poor adoption of improved technologies. Source: Kamara et al. (2013) Intensive Cereal–Legume–Livestock Systems in West African Dry Savannas in: Hershey, Clair H. and Neate, Paul (eds.) Eco-efficiency: From vision to reality (Issues in Tropical Agriculture series) -- Cali, CO: Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) The results show that vast wastelands of degraded lateritic soils in the Sudano Sahel can be reclaimed by using appropriate water harvesting technologies combined with suitable plant species. Pure plantations of A. tumida can be established for production of renewable firewood and high-protein seeds. Additional species such as Acacia Senegal or Sclerocarya birrea can be used for production of gum arabic or fruit juice and nuts respectively. Tree plantations add organic carbon to the soil and should significantly increase the productivity of pasture plants by improving soil fertility, reducing soil erosion, and increasing water infiltration. Women reclaim degraded lands and gain power The Bioreclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) system is designed to convert the degraded, crusted laterites of the Sahel back into productive lands. It combines traditional water harvesting techniques with hardy trees and indigenous vegetable crops. The BDL has a multi- purpose function: it provides solutions to aspects of income generation, nutritional imbalance, empowerment of women, food security, climate change, and biodiversity conservation. From 2007 to 2009, research was carried out in hard and soft-crusted lateritic soils. Among seven tree species under investigation, Acacia tumida was found to perform extremely well in the hard lateritic soil and is a potential candidate for the establishment of renewable firewood plantations. In a year that saw only 500 mm rainfall, okra yield was 3 t/ha and the leaf yield of 3-year-old Moringa stenopetala was 9 t/ha – a total value of about US$1500/ha. The results show that vast wastelands of degraded lateritic soils in the Sudano Sahel can be reclaimed by using appropriate water harvesting technologies combined with suitable plant species. Pure plantations of A. tumida can be established for production of renewable firewood and high-protein seeds. Additional species such as Acacia Senegal or Sclerocarya birrea can be used for production of gum arabic or fruit juice and nuts respectively. Tree plantations add organic carbon to the soil and should significantly increase the productivity of pasture plants by improving soil fertility, reducing soil erosion, and increasing water infiltration. The main potential impacts are: The existence of renewable firewood plantations will ease the current destruction of the indigenous woody species that are used for firewood while facilitating their regeneration. Women gain the ownership of land and the possibility of earning income, resulting in their empowerment. This has a direct positive impact on the health and education of children. Bringing abandoned lands back into cultivation eases the increasing pressure on land caused by the burgeoning population of the Sudano Sahel. Availability of highly nutritious vegetables, in particular leafy vegetables that can be harvested at 2 months, can provide significant nutrition during the ’hunger period’, when grain reserves have dwindled and new stocks are not yet available. The use of water harvesting techniques and tree planting in lateritic soils, which have higher water- holding capacity than sandy soils, can significantly mitigate the effects of climate change. The research for development of BDL is still ongoing, but based on women’s uptake of this technology it seems that this promising system for the Sudano Sahel could be upscaled. Larger pilot studies should be taken to test the various models of BDL in the countries of the Sudano Sahel. Source: ICRISAT, Western and Central Africa Region Protecting Biodiversity, Providing Options. BP 12404, Niamey, Niger: ICRISAT. 64 pp Map showing location