Re-evaluating indigenous technologies for sustainable soil and water management in the Sahel: A case study from Niger

Abstract

West African Sahel relies much of its food production on rain-fed pearl millet cultivation (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.). Its productivity is physically constrained by irregular rainfall and the inherent poor nutrient holding capacity of the soil. Extensive and deprival nature of its agriculture was sustained by migrant and semi-nomadic lifestyle of people in the older days (Charlick 1991). However, a great increase of population in the last five decades caused overexploitation of land resources and reduced resilience of the system. Due to erosion and nutrition deficiency, productivity of pearl millet has declined. Today the old paradigm of extensive agriculture is no longer valid for sustainable land management. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.