Land degradation is defined as the temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land, and the diminution of the productive potential, including its major land uses e. Land degradation in south africa by hoffman and ashwell. Poverty may lead to poor land management, which causes land degradation and a decline in agricultural productivity, which in turn can cause further. South africa is especially susceptible to iaps and this is nationally perceived as the countrys greatest land degradation threat, partly because it reduces national streamflow by 2. Y main causes of soil degradation by region in susceptible drylands and other areas. Pdf status and trends in land degradation in africa. Commercial timber operators cut trees on land to which they haveobtained temporary concession, whereas local smallscale loggers clear forestwhichtheysee. Economics of land degradation in eastern africa econstor.
One of the great spectacles of africa, these vast flocks of flamingoes are threatened by. The soil integrates a variety of important processes involving vegetation growth, overland flow of water, infiltration, land use and land management. Loss of natural fertility of soil because of loss of nutrients. The country has a wide range of interrelated environmental and development challenges existing in a sociopolitical context recently subject to substantial change. Land degradation and rehabilitation in ethiopia society at large is also suffering from uncertain information about the rates of land use change and land degradation. What are causes and effects of environmental degradation. Jun 01, 2016 major causes of land degradation greentumble soil degradation june 1, 2016 whether it is through building homes and settlements, the cultivation of crops, the harvesting of plants for food, medicine, fiber, or fuel, or by setting fires to the landscape for hunting purposes, humans have always influenced the landscape around them. The term land degradation involves both soil and vegetation degradation. Final submission land degradation in the limpopo province 1 c. Today it is recognised and well acknowledged that the entire southern. How much soil is carried away depends on how strong the rain or wind is as well as the soil quality, topography for example, sloped versus terraced land, and the amount of ground vegetation. History, nature, causes, consequences, and solutions conacher, arthur encyclopedia of life support systems eolss peoples attitudes, perceptions and knowledge, actions or inactions by government agencies, and inappropriate government policies. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1. The economics of land degradation in africa eld initiative.
These causal factors, driven by social, economic and political forces, manifest themselves in market, policy and institutional failures, inappropriate technologies and practices. Polluti on introduces contaminants into the environment that can maim or even kill plant and animal species. Indeed some 31 countries do not even make the list because they have already removed most of their forests and even if that remain are seriously fragmented and degraded. The linkages between land degradation, poverty and social. Lucids land use change analysis as an approach for investigating biodiversity loss and land degradation project the spatial patterns and root causes of land use change in east africa lucid project working paper 47 by jennifer m. In india alone, about 188 million hectares or almost 57% of total land area is degraded sehgel and abrol, 1994.
What explains the widespread adoption of unsustainable farming practices. Land degradation management in southern africa springerlink. The causes of dry land degradation are complex, and may be the product of. Penny environmental and developmental consultantpractitioner, cape town, south africa keywords. This is particularly worrisome since, according to the uns food and agriculture organization, some 83% of subsaharan african people depend on the land for their livelihood, and food production in africa will have to increase almost 100. Subsaharan africa experiences deleterious levels of soil erosion, largely due to the interaction between harsh climates of high erosivity, fragile soils of high erodibility, steep slopes, and poor natural resource management. Given that livelihoods of the majority of the rural poor heavily depend on natural resources, countries in the region have designed a number of policies and strategies to address land degradation and to enhance productivity. Land use changes and unsustainable land management are direct human causes of land degradation very high confidence, with agriculture being a dominant sector driving degradation 14. Subsaharan africa ssa has experienced the most severe land degradation in the world. Mitigate the causes and negative effects of land degradation on the. Land degradation is a process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by a. Land use changes and unsustainable land management are direct human causes of land degradation very high confidence, with agriculture being a dominant sector driving degradation 14 very high confidence. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to give an overview on the causes and impacts of land degradation in ethiopia, and to present rehabilitative measures to restore degraded lands. Environmental economics in the department of agricultural economics, extension and rural development.
The linkages between land degradation, poverty and social capital in uganda. Land degradation the process of land degradation in southern africa is blamed on water and wind erosion, sedimentation, longterm destruction of vegetation and diminution of the bioresources. Perspectives on the assumed causes of land degradation in the. Furthermore, the main outcome of land degradation is a substantial reduction in the productivity of the land as shown in figure 2. Cause of land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of. In subsaharan africa, the main causes of land degradation or desertification are wellknown. The condition of the soil is one of the best indicators of land degradation. The paper suggests some rules of thumb for identifying the priority areas for government and donor intervention, including the need for targeted research on the productivity. Overview and stocktaking of land degradation in general and in africa. The aim of this paper is to reassess the land degradation and desertification problem in south africa. Savannah belt in africa, the central united states and some countries in northwest europe.
Forests play an important role in maintaining fertility of soil by shedding their leaves which contain many nutrients. Land degradation food and agriculture organization of the united. The reduction in water availability often result in reduced plant cover which in turn exposes the soil particles to wind and water erosion after droughts figure 1. The industrial revolution of 19th century mechanized the production and manufacturing of goods and introduced the use of machinery and other heavy equipments which in turn, used fuels as source of energy. The causes and spatial pattern of land degradation risk in southern mauritania using multitemporal avhrr. Its causes have been extensively debated with two competing hypotheses. The annual loss of land is expected to go up to 10 million hectares by 2000 a. The survey results are summarised in a userfriendly book called nature divided. Nine main causes of land degradation are as follows. This section describes land degradation trends in kenya as an introduction to the following pairs of satellite images that show this degradation on the ground. The nature, extent and causes of land degradation in south. Spatial patterns and root causes of land use change east. Soil erosion and veld degradation are continually being depicted as acute problems, and overpopulation, overstocking and poor agricultural practices are viewed as the major causal. Major causes of land degradation, but also soil loss cause by region of the world we see in africa overgrazing is the major cause, but in north america its agricultural practices causes of land degradation in developing countries.
Air pollution is unf ortunately the common causes of environmental degradation. Erosion happens when wind or rain carry topsoil away. Causes and efforts to control soil erosion in africa. The major causes of land degradation include, land clearance poor farming practices, overgrazing, inappropriate. Spatial patterns and root causes of land use change east africa. Pollution of water resources from the contamination of. Soil degradation is, in itself, an indicator of land degradation. Chapter 6 causes of land degradation food and agriculture.
Land degradation has accelerated during the 20th century due to increasing and combined pressures of agricultural and livestock production overcultivation, overgrazing, forest conversion, urbanization, deforestation, and extreme weather events such as droughts and coastal surges which salinate land. Research has shown that up to 60% of agricultural land in calabar south is seriously degraded. One of the major threat the planet faces today, environmental degradation is bound to make life difficult for all the lifeforms, including us humans, sooner or later. Experiences from the south african land degradation. However, awareness of the problem and attitudes towards it have changed little over the past century. The chapter examines the nature and causes of land degradation in the region, linking it to population characteristics, land ownership, low technological capacity, poverty, poor governance, low literacy and inappropriate land management practices. Bocar diagana department of agricultural economics and economics montana state university june 2003 draft working paper, department of agricultural economics and economics, montana state university, bozeman, mt, usa. The result is a loss of land productivity with impacts on livelihoods and the economy. Land degradation is the major consequences of direct interference of human activities in the natural phenomenon. Land degradation is a great threat for the future and it requires great effort and resources to ameliorate. Land degradation is, usually, the result of complex interrelationships between biophysical and socioeconomic issues which affect many people and their land, specially in the tropics and developing countries. Declining soil fertility due to inadequate farming practices, deforestation and overgrazing are among the primary impediments to increased agricultural productivity in subsaharan africa.
Soil erosion and land degradation are serious problems in tropical africa, especially subsaharan africa, where they are widely recognized as more serious problems than in nontropical areas. Degraded soil diminishes food production and leads to soil erosion, which in turn contributes to desertification. Land shortage and poverty, taken together, lead to nonsustainable land management practices, meaning the direct causes of degradation. The main reasons for unproductiveness or degradation of soils are as follows.
In africa, the most conspicuous symptoms of the negative impact of land degradation on food production are stagnating and declining yields and increasing levels of poverty. The major causes of land degradation in ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and livestock production. Pdf there is insufficient data on the extent, severity and trend of land. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of. Causes and consequences article pdf available in european researcher 8182. The human dimension of desertification in the drylands of. Land degradation in south africa has long been recognised as a significant environmental problem meadows and hoffman, 2002. Economics of land degradation in subsaharan africa. The primary cause of environmental degradation is human disturbance. Pdf assessment of land degradation, its possible causes and.
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