Soil and water conservation practices in the savanna of northern Nigeria(a review)

Abstract

The intensification of agriculture in the savanna of northern Nigeria as a result of population pressure, negative effects of climatic change on the environment, infrastructural development and other forms of land use in the last one decade, have led to serious ecological disasters affecting the lives and income of a large majority of the rural people whose basic means of livelihood is farming. The challenge posed by the loss of several  hectarage of farmlands on account of natural or human-induced ecological problems in terms of food security and sustenance of natural  agro-ecosystems is enormous, especially for the resource low-income  farmers. Adoption of soil and water conservation measures by farmers is low since these measures tend to be labour intensive, costly and have a more long term effect. The need to conserve soil resources for greater productivity and protect the environment from degradation is of utmost priority. This paper reviews some of the existing soil and water  conservation practices in the savanna of northern Nigeria with a view to assessing their potentials for crop production and effect an overall on the environment.

Keywords: Savannah, conservation, environment